KARACHI: It will likely be like simply one other sport {of professional} cricket, Indian captain Virat Kohli mentioned as he tried to minimize the strain forward of the India vs Pakistan ICC T20 World Cup sport.
In a video preview shared by the ICC, the Indian captain additionally praised the Pakistani bowling assault.
“Pakistan always has a great bowling attack. So it’s always been a good challenge,” mentioned Kohli.
“I’ve played against Pakistan in three World Cups now. I’ve maintained this forever, apart from the atmosphere in the stadium, there is nothing different for us because it has more to do with how people perceive that game and how people look at that game, for us we have to be professional, for us it’s a game of cricket,” the Indian captain mentioned.
The flamboyant top-order batsman mentioned the fundamentals of the sport stay the identical no matter which group one is enjoying and the second you shift the main focus to issues that do not matter, you do not have an opportunity to carry out.
“Those external factors are not going win the game, it’s the intelligence, the application, the understanding of the situation, and how to find that belief within you to find a way to make your team win is all that matters on the field of play. And personally, I’ve never looked at this game differently,” mentioned the Indian captain.
However, Indian head coach Ravi Shastri had a special view from Kohli.
“There’s absolutely no doubt about that. No game comes close. So, it is a big game, and like in the past, this game will be treated in the same fashion, both teams will give it their all, we will certainly give it our all and you know may the best team win,” Shastri mentioned.
Experienced cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin mentioned that Pakistan is an thrilling group however rued that each the groups haven’t obtained sufficient alternatives to play in opposition to one another.
“Pakistan’s a very exciting team. It’s not just now because the competition is happening that I’m saying it. They are a team that comes with a certain character bite,” he mentioned.
“It has been one of the most celebrated contests. If I may say, as a child, I grew up watching India and Pakistan go one up against each other all my life. The challenge of playing Pakistan and India nowadays is the fact that you come up against an unknown opponent in one of the most celebrated rivalries, one of the most looked after the game, people are just waiting for the game to begin. But both the teams don’t know enough about each other, we haven’t experienced a contest between each other so very often,” Ashwin mentioned.
Hardik Pandya agreed that it’s a identified rivalry and that’s comprehensible, however for him, it’s simply one other sport like he would play in opposition to some other facet.
“At the end of the day it’s a sport and you don’t put things or anything in between sports. So, for me, it’s another match which I want to win as I would like to win against Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka or any good team but I know this means more for a lot of people back home, so for them yeah, we’re going to give our best and make sure we get what they like,” Pandya mentioned.