ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Captain Babar Azam on Sunday said defeating India in the T20 World Cup opening match was “just the beginning” and his side still had a long way to go in the tournament.
Babar and Mohammad Rizwan smashed unbeaten half-centuries as Pakistan crushed India by 10 wickets to register their first win over the archrivals in the high-voltage opener in Dubai on Sunday.
Chasing 152 for victory, Babar (68) and Rizwan (79) took apart the Indian bowling as they steered their team home with 13 balls to spare in Dubai.
Left-arm quick Shaheen Shah Afridi set up victory — their first over their neighbors in six attempts in the tournament — with figures of 3-31 that restricted India to 151-7 despite a valiant 57 from India skipper Virat Kohli.
Asked at a post-match press talk if the tournament would get a bit easier for them now, Babar said:
“No not at all. This is just the beginning and we have won the first match that has given [us] confidence and we will move forward with the same confidence.
“There are many matches ahead and we’re moving match by match, and we are trying to give our hundred percent in the matches to come like we gave today.”
Asked about the team’s reparation ahead of the high-voltage match, Babar said it just didn’t take the past into account and rather focused on practice in the domestic and warm-up matches earlier.
This was Pakistan’s first-ever victory by 10 wickets against any opposition in a T20 while India also lost by such a huge margin for the first time.
India had beaten Pakistan in all of their 12 matches at the T20 and 50-over World Cups.
Pakistan, however, went into the contest with 10 wins in a row in the United Arab Emirates, their home away from home for most of the last decade.
It was the first time the two nations had clashed since the 50-over World Cup in 2019.