Babar Azam vows to ‘give our best’ as Pakistan prepare for first World Cup game tomorrow

The blockbuster tournament kicked off today in India, with the opening contest between England and New Zealand.

Pakistan’s first match in the 50-over showpiece is set for Oct 6 (Friday) against the Netherlands in Hyderabad, while the highly anticipated match against arch-rivals India will take place in Ahmedabad on Oct 14.

In a video posted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on the social media platform X today, Azam said Pakistan received an “unexpected” reception upon their arrival in India.

At the same time, the skipper also talked about the absence of the home crowd element, saying: “If we had Pakistani supporters here, we would have received even more support.”

Regarding the team’s preparations for their opening match, the skipper said the national team spent a week in Hyderabad and experimented with various batting and bowling combinations in warm-up matches.

“As you’re aware, our strength primarily lies in our fast bowlers. Since our arrival in India, our spinners have also performed admirably in the middle overs, consistently taking wickets.

“This is certainly a positive sign for the team,” he said.

Azam stated that each player in the middle and lower-middle order was stepping up to fulfill their respective roles, which he said was encouraging.

He also expressed his satisfaction with the quality of pitches in the host country, describing them as “very good,” and was hopeful that the matches would be “high scoring”.

He also noted that the boundary distances appeared to be “normal”.

Furthermore, Azam shared his perspective on Pakistan’s bowling strategy, saying that bowlers were expected to employ variations and focus on bowling “wicket to wicket”.