The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the official date for the highly awaited India-Pakistan World Cup 2023 encounter. According to the itinerary, the most anticipated battle will take place on October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. India hopes to extend its victory record over Pakistan to 8-0, while Babar Azam and his squad will do all possible to interrupt the trend.
Although Pakistan broke their World Cup curse against India in Dubai in 2021, they are yet to win their first 50-overs match against their arch-rivals. Looking back to 1992, every time India and Pakistan met in the ODI, only team India won, and the games were frequently one-sided.
As we prepare for another great match in this historic rivalry, Pakistani all-rounder Shadab Khan has made an unusual revelation about the WC match versus India.
Shadab acknowledged the intense emotions surrounding an India-Pakistan encounter but emphasised that conquering India will not be his team’s main focus in the World Cup. The all-rounder feels that even if Pakistan loses to India, winning the World Cup will be significantly more significant than merely winning another India-Pakistan match.
“Playing against India is a unique combination of joy and pressure, especially on their home turf. However, rather than focusing primarily on beating India, the focus should be on participating in the World Cup. Winning versus India is meaningless if the ultimate aim of winning the World Cup is not met. Shadab feels that even if Pakistan loses against India, winning the World Cup is a win-win situation since it coincides with their core goal,” Shadab told Cricket Pakistan.
Shadab has previously played in the India-Pakistan World Cup match in Manchester, England, during the 2019 tournament. In the game, India achieved a difficult total of 336/7, driven by outstanding efforts from Rohit Sharma (140), Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul (both with half-centuries). They easily defended it, reducing Pakistan to 212/6 after the target was reduced from 40 overs to 302 owing to weather delays.
Shadab, who is now representing Sussex in the T20 Blast, has demonstrated his ability with two match-winning half-centuries. He had 59 points against Middlesex and an undefeated 87 points against Glamorgan.
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