Acrh Rival Captains have faith
to put in themselves better than opponent.
We have no pressure and will
gift the Victory for Eid Celebrations. Sarfraz Ahmad
We are better side than 2013, I
want to flourish as captain in my first big tournament, Virat Kohli
Current Line (Birmingham)
Pakistan Cricket team who is not
in a good position in ICC Ranking (8th) but the captain Sarfaraz Ahmad who
captained the team in first major event is confident of making nothing to lost
in ICC Champions trophy.
“We have nothing to lose, we just want to play our natural game,” he said at his pre-tournament press conference. “We have just played a very good series in the West Indies, where the players performed very well.
“We are very hopeful of playing well in this tournament and we want to win it. It is a very exciting time for us, there have been a lot of practice sessions at Edgbaston and we’re ready to play.
“Against the West Indies, we had a big fielding improvement, there were one or two dropped catches but it was an improvement so we are happy with that.
“We don’t see us as having a surprise element, we want to come here and play free cricket, starting against India. We are taking matches one by one and the Pakistan team is hopeful of building some confidence starting in the warm-up matches.”
For the biggest clash
with arch rival in opening match on 4th at Edgebaston Sarfraz much
aware about his team past records in 50 over games ICC Tournaments.
“We have a better record against India in the Champions Trophy, not in other competitions, but we do well in this. We’re looking to maintain that against them and it’s very exciting."
The 30-year-old was in the middle as the winning runs were hit in the final match, and with confidence high that Pakistan can flourish in the ICC Champions Trophy, he isn’t feeling the pressure of leading his country.
Sarfraz continued: “This is my first major tournament as captain, I’m definitely very hopeful and excited about the competition.
“My aim is to play my own game, to not play under pressure and to just play as I do in domestic cricket.
On the Other hand the Indian
captain Verat Kohli also has a complete plan in his mind to defend the title and
felt his team is better than 2013.
The 28-year-old Kohli is expecting great things from his side.
“I am very excited to be playing as captain in my first major ICC
competition,” he said. “As far as the team goes, we won last time because our
fast bowlers did very well, our spinners were strong and our opening batsman
did well.
“They were the main three factors. This year the team is a lot fitter,
the cricketers are a lot more mature because that was a very young group four
years ago. It has gained a lot of experience in the last three or four years. I
love the tournament because it represents a challenge from the (word) go.
“In the ICC Cricket Wold Cup you have a league and a lot of games to
play but here it is group games and then either the semis or you are out.”
After a couple of warm-up matches against New Zealand and Bangladesh,
India opens its campaign against neighbour Pakistan at Edgbaston in one of the
most eagerly anticipated matches of the group stage.
Following that, India will tackle Sri Lanka and South Africa at the Kia
Oval.
“For me it is a game of cricket. From then to now, I have shown I am
strong mentally. England brings a lot for challenges for a batsmen and I want
to overcome them personally for my satisfaction at the end of my career.
“From that point of view, it is exciting for me.”
Kohli may be the star of the team these days, but Yuvraj and Dhoni still
play a major role. And Kohli expects former captain Dhoni to flourish in this
tournament.
“We needed to strengthen our lower middle order contribution. Too much
burden was on MS,” he said.
“He was not able to express himself. But now we are balanced, we have
good fast bowlers, depth in batting and the series against England [In January]
sealed it for us.
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