'Will consider the game against India same as one against any other side' - Mohammad Rizwan

An India-Pakistan contest is among the most anticipated cricket matches around the globe. The two arch-rivals don’t face frequently thus every time they are set to lock horns, it’s natural for the fans to get excited. The buzz around the match is like no other.

An India-Pakistan match is special for the players as well as a good performance from them gets more attention than their performance in any other game. Sometimes, this works as a disadvantage as well as the pressure of performing gets the better of the players. Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan is wary of the same and said the players are not seeing the game against India differently, adding that they will treat the match like any other game of the tournament. The two teams are set to lock horns on October 24 in Dubai.

“This India-Pakistan match, we will consider it like any other game. The hype is being created by the social media and fans which is fine but in our hearts and minds, we will consider this game the same as one against any other side. Because, if we as players take on the additional pressure of this game, then that won’t be good as it has happened before,” said Rizwan in a virtual press conference on Saturday.

Many experts feel that conditions in UAE are an advantage to Pakistan. The Men in Green have used UAE as the home venue for over a decade and players are well used to the conditions. However, Rizwan downplayed the thought and said, “I have never been a believer in the fact that any one side, including Pakistan, has any special advantage in UAE or anywhere else. All we can say is that the tournament is being held in Asia as I consider UAE to be in Asia. Yes, we have been playing there for a while and we used to say that UAE is our home ground but I never accepted that because the pitches there, from what I understood, were made with soil from Australia or from other parts of the world. So, even if UAE was called our home ground, that was not the case.”

The Pakistan team is currently in Lahore and will depart for UAE on October 15. Ahead of the match against India, the team will play a couple of warm-up games against the West Indies and South Africa.