Previous World Cup defeats against India will not matter: Shahid Afridi

Karachi: Flamboyant Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has said that previous defeats in the cricket World Cup against India will not matter when the two teams clash in Adelaide.

“It is a new match and both teams realize the importance of getting a winning start in the World Cup. So it is should be a very interesting game and what happened in the past should not matter,” Afridi told Geo News channel.

The hard hitting batsman and leg-spinner who is being dubbed by many experts as the X-factor player against India said the team was prepared to play fearless cricket without fear of defeat.

“The pressure factor is always very much present in an Indo-Pak match but we have discussed this and we know that we will have to play fearless cricket and positively to win this one,” he said.

Afridi who had played a key role in guiding Pakistan to a win over India in the Asia Cup last year in Bangladesh said India had been playing in Australia for the last three months so they would be better acclimatized to the conditions. “But our wins in the warm up matches has boosted us and we a great mix of experience and youth and I think at the end of the day how we perform and take the pressure will decide what happens in the match,” Afridi added.

The former skipper also pointed out that there would lot of cricket after tomorrow’s match. “We must not forget that we need to keep our focus right even after this match no matter what the result. As we need to do a lot of hard work to win this event.” Afridi was among the eight players fined recently by the Pakistan team management in Australia for a late night out. Former captain Rameez Raja said on the channel that both teams had 50-50 chances of winning the game.

“I would have put it at 60-40 but after Pakistan’s wins in the warm up matches I would say both teams start with a 50-50 chance of winning so this is going to be a very exciting game,” he said. He pointed out that both teams were evenly balanced and if India didn’t posses the batting power of yesteryears then Pakistan also lacked the bowling prowess of past years.

PTI