Imdad 
Babar Azam’s Team Believes
Wasim Akram says Babar Azam’s team believes they can play with their arch-rivals “day in, day out” after their triumph against Virat Kohli’s team at the Twenty20 World Cup last year.
Pakistan is due to begin their Asia Cup campaign on Sunday against India.
Pakistan’s opening-round triumph in the United Arab Emirates broke their long-standing curse of never having defeated their arch rivals in a World Cup match.
Pakistan Would Be Confident
Wasim also thinks Pakistan would be confident after the victory going into the Group “A” encounter in Dubai.
“The Pakistani team has been improving over the last few years. They’ve been reliable, and I believe the victory over India—even though it occurred during the World Cup a year ago—gave them some assurance that they can contend with India on a daily basis,” Wasim said on Tuesday during a virtual press conference with former India head coach Ravi Shastri, which was hosted by the six-team competition’s official broadcaster.
The majority of the team arrived from the Netherlands on Tuesday morning after winning their ODI series against the Dutch 3-0. Pakistan will begin practising for the match on Wednesday at the ICC Academy.
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Four Players Arrived in Dubai
Four players, including the powerful Asif Ali, have already arrived in Dubai from Lahore, while pacer Mohammad Hasnain, who was brought in to take Shaheen Shah Afridi’s place as the team’s injured pace spearhead, is scheduled to come from England on Wednesday.
Wasim wanted Pakistani players to be aware that their top order, which is their natural strength, shouldn’t turn into a weakness.
“Since the commencement of the T20 World Cup last year, Pakistan’s top three have scored 67.53% of the team’s runs in T20 Internationals. He said, “Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Fakhar Zaman have mostly been responsible for this.”
Babar Azam and Rizwan are Crucial
“The middle order is the only thing that worries me. Iftikhar Ahmed, who ranks fourth, is the only one with experience, and Haider Ali, a fresh star who hasn’t been reliable, will likely come next. Regarding the T20 format, Babar Azam and Rizwan are crucial.”
He continued, “I think they are confident in general, but it depends on how they feel or what kind of attitude they are in when they arrive before the India-Pakistan game since that game can make or break the Asia Cup for either team.”
The former bowling great claimed that considering the kind of influence each player has had on his respective teams, comparisons between Pakistan captain Babar and Kohli are unavoidable.
