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'Pakistan Players Scared Against India..', Claims PAK Great Before World Cup 2023

image-ln767pa5Babar Azam at Hyderabad airport (AP)

Pakistan cricket team, under Babar Azam, slumped to a five-wicket defeat at the hands of New Zealand in their opening World Cup 2023 warm-up fixture in Hyderabad. Despite charting up 345-6 upfront, the 'Men in Green' bowlers failed to contain a rampaging New Zealand batting line-up from overhauling the total with more than six overs to spare.

Prior to their landing in India for the tournament, Pakistan also lost the 2023 Asia Cup in the Super Four stage by coming up short against India and co-hosts Sri Lanka. To make matters worse, reports soon emerged of a dressing standoff between Pakistan captain Babar Azam and his ace speedster Shaheen Afridi following their Asia Cup exit.

Former keeper-batter Moin Khan believes the current Pakistan unit is looking scattered, with several of its players even hesitating to give suggestions to their skipper. He further claimed that Pakistan players also looked scared while playing against their arch-rivals India, as evidenced by their Asia Cup 2023 bout earlier in September.

‘Pakistan scared against India…’ says Moin Khan

Former Pakistan cricketer Moin Khan believes the players under Babar Azam are looking "scattered" at the moment. While speaking with Cricket Pakistan, he said:

“I saw this 100%. The players look scattered, they were hesitant in even giving suggestions to Babar Azam, whether it was Rizwan, Shadab or Shaheen. It was visible that the team wasn't gelled up. There were no discussions, and even if there were suggestions and Babar Azam was following them, they weren't working.”

He further added that players are also looking scared against India, as evidenced from their body language and dressing room issues.

“Another thing was, against India, players are scared. And those who really are scared that their suggestions won't work... that's fear. As a cricketer, you have to play on your potential and you should contribute 100%. It's okay if your suggestions go wrong, it happens. But your body language shows whether you want to win, and that wasn't visible. And I'm pretty there were some issues in dressing room.”

The struggling Pakistan unit will launch their World Cup 2023 campaign with a match against the Netherlands on October 6.

Roughly a week later, they will go up against India at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.