Mumbai, Feb 21 (IANS) Pakistan allrounder Khushdil Shah has admitted that India are a formidable side but said that Pakistan can beat them if they manage to bring their ‘A game’ when the arch-rivals meet in a crucial clash in the Champions Trophy 2025 at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai on Sunday.
It will be a make-or-break clash for Pakistan as it has lost its opening match to New Zealand by 60 runs in Karachi. India, on the other hand, comprehensively defeated Bangladesh by six wickets in their first match on Thursday.
A loss in Sunday’s match will push Mohammad Rizwan’s side to the brink of elimination in the four-team group from which two teams will progress to the knockout semifinals.
Khushdil admitted that India is playing good cricket and has a good, strong team. “India has a good strong team but every team is beatable and India too can be defeated. If we bring our A games then we can beat India. The belief is there, and if there is belief, then we can make things happen,” Khushdil was quoted as saying by TelecomAsia Sport.
Pakistan have beaten India in three of the five games in the previous Champions Trophy events. Their wins came in 2004 in the United Kingdom, 2009 in South Africa and that final at The Oval in London in 2017.
Overall, India have dominated the head-to-head series with the arch-rivals when it comes to ICC events, having seldom lost to them in the 50-over World Cup.
Khushdil said the team that handles the pressure well on that particular day wins in the India-Pakistan encounters. “When India and Pakistan play, the whole world watches the match. It is a match which is won by the teams that handle the pressure well so we are used to it,” he said.
The all-rounder urged the fans to back Pakistan despite its indifferent start in the tournament. “We have lost one match, but we are still in the tournament. We can beat India if we play well, so don’t rule us out as yet.”
Khushdil is in good form and had waged a lone battle for his team in the lost cause against New Zealand. He hammered a 49-ball 69, blasting 10 boundaries and a lone six, and was the second Pakistan batter after Babar Azam (64) to score a half-century against New Zealand in the match.
However, the Pakistan batter is quite unhappy with the way he is being treated by former players, the media and the fans alike for his surprise selection in the squad for the Champions Trophy, saying, “Even I don’t know how I got selected.”
Khushdil and Faheem Ashraf’s selection, based on their performance in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), in the squad for the ODI Tri-series and the Champions Trophy, was heavily criticised in the media, with former captain Rashid Latif calling it a “political selection.” Because of this, he has faced a hostile reception from the home fans every time he takes the field and has deplored the crowds for shouting at him.
“It hurts when the crowd calls names and lashes out at you. But I am now accustomed to it. I now enjoy it and ask them to shout more because now I can handle that very well,” he said.
“People do not know how much a cricketer suffers, how much he works hard, and what sacrifices he gives to reach a stage where he gets selected for the national team. They must respect a player,” the 30-year-old lamented.
–IANS
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