Pakistan have the edge against India, says Afridi and Hafeez

Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi and opener Mohammad Hafeez said that the Pakistani team had the edge ahead of their encounter with arch-rivals India on Saturday.

Pakistani defeated Bangladesh in their first match of the ICC World T20 2016 in a dominating way. Both of their openers and Captain Shahid Afridi were amongst runs and their bowlers impressed all the experts and audiences with their control and speed.

“I was keen to perform well for my country in this event. As captain, as a senior player, I had to lead by example,” said Afridi, who got the Man of the match against Bangladesh.

Pakistan will face off against India on March 19 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, a venue where they have not lost any match against India. But India also has a streak of their own against Pakistan when it comes to World Cups, as they have not lost any games to Pakistan in any of the 50 over or 20 over World Cups, including the exciting final of the 2007 World T20.

“I don’t want to talk about the past, we should learn from our mistakes and India have been playing good cricket, even with the last loss. Captaincy is not an easy job, but when the team gives you 100 percent, I enjoy it. People expect me to bat and ball as well and I enjoy both,” said Afridi, who recently received lots of criticism over his remarks in the media.

Even Mohammad Hafeez looked confident ahead of the India- Pakistan clash; he said that, “It was very good display by the team, the bowlers did well, the batsmen scored runs, so we have the momentum which will help us in the rest of the tournament. It was important for us to start off on a winning note which we have done. Our confidence is back and Afridi’s knock was very crucial for us to get the momentum for the team,”

On being asked about Pakistan being grouped with India, New Zealand and Australia, the potential group of death, Hafeez said, “I have been playing in the last three World Twenty20 cups, and we are always in the group of death. So we have gotten used to this.”