Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has urged the Pakistan cricket team to forget about the ‘hawa’ (aura) of the Indian cricket team and play fearless cricket in the Asia Cup final against their arch-rivals who have beaten them twice so far in the tournament. Aktar has spent the last few weeks criticizing Pakistan team’s performances during his appearances on panel discussion shows back home. But after Pakistan qualified for the final on Thursday night after defeating Bangladesh, Akhtar showered praise on the team, while claiming they were good enough to defeat the Indian side, which is so far undefeated. In fact, India have beaten Pakistan twice so far in the Asia Cup.
But Pakistan’s win on Thursday in the Super 4 clash over Bangladesh came after a fightback. The team had slumped to 49/5 at one stage batting first. Akhtar demanded that the Pakistan team show the same fight against India.
“Step out of that mindset, break their aura, and go in with the same attitude you had against Bangladesh—take them on, come at us, we’ll see. That’s the attitude you need,” said Akhtar.
Akhtar said that Pakistan should aim to get wickets and India will find themselves in real trouble if the in-form Abhishek Sharma can be dismissed early. The former pacer also asked Pakistan to play sensible cricket on the day and give their best.
“We don’t just have to complete 20 overs, we have to take wickets. When you go for wickets, even India will realise that they can be rattled and not allowed to score freely. And the moment Abhishek gets out within the first two overs—mark my words—they’ll be in real trouble. Right now, they’re starting strong and enjoying themselves, but once that start is broken, they’ll struggle too,”
