There will always be a first time, according to Babar Azam, who believes Pakistan will halt its losing streak against India.

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There will always be a first time, according to Babar Azam, who believes Pakistan will halt its losing streak against India

Pakistan captain Babar Azam sounded confident in his team's ability to end their winless run against India in the ICC World Cup on the eve of their showdown in Ahmedabad.

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Pakistan lead India 73-56 in the ODI head-to-head record, with five matches ending in a ‘No Result’. The Men in Blue, however, clearly are the dominant side as far as 50-over World Cups are concerned, having won all seven encounters against their arch-rivals since their first meeting in Sydney, 1992.

In the high-profile encounter at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday, where a star-studded ceremony is set to take place ahead of the match, Team India will aim to make it 8-0 and collect their third win in as many outings at the start of their campaign.

Ahead of Saturday’s showdown, however, Babar was quick to remind reporters of India’s similar unbeaten streak against Pakistan in T20 World Cups and how it all came to an end in Dubai during the 2021 T20 World Cup Super 12 match.

Beating India had not happened even before T20 WC in 2021, so there is always a first time,” said Babar in the press conference on the eve of what is considered one of the most high-profile sporting fixtures in the world.

“I don’t focus on the records or on the past. Our team has been doing well. This kind of record is meant to be broken. Hope it happens tomorrow,” added Babar.

Babar does not believe that the outcome of the much-anticipated clash will have an impact on his captaincy.

The captains of both the teams feel pressure of the big-game, especially when losing isn’t an option for fans from both sides of the border. Babar, though, looked unperturbed.

“I never worry, that because of this match I will lose my captaincy. Whatever God has written for me I will get. I will get what I deserve. I didn’t get the captaincy because of one match and I will not lose it because of one match,” Babar, who certainly wasn’t amused with the question, replied with an air of disdain.

His record against India in ICC events has been a bit under-whelming and he was the first to admit that. But he felt that not playing India enough outside ICC events is a factor.

“My World Cup till right now has not been as it should have been – but hopefully you will see some difference in the next matches. Against India, we only come face to face in the World Cup. There is a big gap.

“It’s not that because of a bowler or… I say that I sometimes get out because of my mistake. I try to make as few mistakes as possible.”

Babar faced a tricky question about the possibility of no Pakistani fans (save Chacha Chicago Bashir) being present at the Narendra Modi Stadium, but like a good student, who has diligently prepared for the question, it wasn’t exactly out of syllabus for him.

“This is not pressure because we have played before a lot of time in front of a large crowd, in front of big crowds at the MCG and all the big stadiums,” Babar said.

“Yes, there are also big stadiums around and yes, I think Ahmedabad will only be blue. So, if Pakistani fans are allowed, it would have been good for us.”

Once again, he recalled how well they were received in Hyderabad upon arrival.

“When we arrived in Hyderabad, I feel there were a lot of supporters of the Pakistan team and I expect that here and we are looking forward to the match.”

Someone slyly slipped in a query about tweets from players after victory over Sri Lanka, then mentioning about Mohammed Rizwan’s support for “brothers and sisters of Gaza”.

“I think it’s better if we stick to talking about cricket. You are taking the conversation to another direction,” Babar was quick to cut it short before controversy could rear its head.

Missing Naseem a lot but Shaheen up for big days

Naseem Shah’s absence will be felt dearly, said Babar but he knows that his main weapon Shaheen Shah Afridi is raring to have a go at the Indians.

“First of all, we will miss Naseem Shah a lot. The way he was bowling in the Asia Cup, it was very impressive bowling – and a youngster, the way he was improving day by day, we miss him a lot as a team, as a captain.”

“As far as Shaheen is concerned, it doesn’t matter if you don’t get a wicket in one or two matches – it’s not a question mark on you, I don’t think that way nor does my team. We have belief in him and he also has full faith in himself that he can do it, and he will.”

Asked if he is getting calls from fans urging him and his team to win the prestige match.

” I have not got calls for this but yeah, I also got a lot of calls for tickets. Basically, people call me for tickets,” everyone laughed.

Both teams enter the contest with two wins in as many games. India defeated Australia by six wickets in their opening game in Chennai on Sunday, and would follow it up with an even more dominant eight-wicket win against Afghanistan in Delhi on Wednesday.

Pakistan, meanwhile, began their campaign with an 81-run win against Netherlands before pulling off a record chase against Sri Lanka