Dubai [UAE], September 27 (ANI): Pakistan captain Salman Agha declared that in the Asia Cup final against India, which comes with a tremendous amount of “pressure”, the team that makes the least amount of mistakes will return home with the trophy on Sunday.
Pakistan has been outfoxed by India in their last two encounters in the tournament. India has gunned down the target set by their arch-rival in the group stage and Super Fours, without breaking a sweat. Even though the scoreline suggests India’s hegemony, Salman feels his team made more mistakes, which led to their downfall. If they manage to chop it down, the title will ultimately be theirs.
“There is a lot of pressure on Pakistan and India, and if we say that there is no pressure, then it is wrong. But yes, we have made more mistakes than they have, and that is why we have not won matches. I think in the match between Pakistan and India, the team with fewer mistakes will win the game,” Salman told reporters in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.
In the ongoing Asia Cup, the team that has won the toss has emerged victorious 11 times out of 18 games. Despite the odds favouring the side that wins the toss, Salman doesn’t see the coin holding relevance in the final. According to Salman, they don’t prepare their strategies based on the pitch, but rather on the outcome of the toss.
“We all got the idea that we have not done such batting in this tournament. So, it is possible that we have put our bets for the final, and God willing, the best will come out in the final. I don’t think that toss has been as important in any game so far because the toss is not in your control. So, when you see it, you neither make a team nor make a strategy. So, I think toss is the way to start the game. And I think it will remain the same tomorrow as well,” he said.
Even though the odds heavily favour India, Salman remains upbeat about their chances and said, “We will win. Our attempt is to play our best cricket. And we know that if we play our best cricket and execute our plans for 40 overs, then we can beat any team.”
India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
Pakistan: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufyan Moqim. (ANI)
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