'We have more passion than them' - Pakistan coach Ejaz Ahmed confident of a strong show against India in U19 World Cup

In about a week’s time, all the leading emerging cricketers of the world will converge in the rainbow nation vying to gain the rights of being called the World champions as the latest edition of the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. The tournament will commence from January 17 and will culminate on the 9th of February.

Every cricket tournament has its own anticipated rivalries but the one that is constant in almost every cricket tournament is the battle between arch-rivals India and Pakistan. And, once again, India vs Pakistan is going to be the most anticipated clashes in the upcoming event.

India are the defending champions and boast of a pretty good outfit for the 2020 edition, however, Ejaz Ahmed, Pakistan U19 coach feels that his team plays with ‘more passion’, when they take on their arch-rivals, something that will help them beat India, as they did during the Emerging Teams Asia Cup.

“India has a very good cricket system and it is organized but I know that we have more passion than them when we play against each other and that is how we also beat them in the semi-finals of the recent Asian Emerging Nations Cup,” Ejaz said as quoted by India Today.

“I feel our team is well balanced”: Ejaz Ahmed

Ejaz Ahmed, who has played 60 Test and 250 ODIs, said that it is their passion that has helped them beat India in the past as well. “Even in the past, we beat India because of our greater passion and this time also I know the passion of our players will prevail over them although they have a very strong outfit,” he added.

India recently won the Quadrangular ODI series in South Africa, however, the right-hander refuses to accept that the experience of playing in South Africa will help the defending champions in the World Cup.

“It is the same in the World Cup it does not matter which team is number one or defending champions what will matter is how a team plays on a given day. I personally feel our team is well balanced,” he said.

“Our players have also trained hard in Lahore and we have played around 11 matches. We will also reach South Africa nine days before the World Cup and we have some practice games and I think our preparations are also very good for the tournament,” he added.

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