DUBAI: Pakistan captain Babar Azam on Monday asserted that his team was “proud” to have made history by beating India for the very first time in the World Cup history.
“It is definitely a proud moment for me as well as for all my players that we have made history,” Babar said while talking to international news agency AFP in an exclusive interview.
He said, “We realise how important and how much needed that win is as everyone wanted us to win,” adding, “I had said before the match that records are meant to be broken so we have broken that jinx and we are very happy.”
Babar said the ‘special’ match was as usual of high intensity. “All of us know that when Pakistan plays India there is very high intensity and it’s a pressure game,” he said, adding, “The whole world waits for this match, so it is a special match.”
The skipper also admitted the noise in the stadium made his task of arranging his fielders tough. “There was so much noise in the stadium that I found it tough to call my players, I told them to keep looking at me so that I can move the fielders,” he added.
“We have gelled well over the years so we are used to that. The response from the players was extraordinary. We got a head start in bowling when Shaheen got us wickets and then we batted as per our plan,” Azam said.
Babar said he had been part of two defeats against India, in the Junior World Cup in Australia in 2012 as skipper and then at the 2019 World Cup in England. “I remember that we lost to India in the quarter finals of the Junior World Cup in 2012 so it was a much desired thing to beat India,” he concluded.
Pakistan thrashed India, romping to a ten-wicket victory in the Twenty20 World Cup in Dubai on Sunday. The win was Pakistan’s first in 13 World Cup matches (seven in the 50 over World Cup and six in the Twenty20 World Cup) dating back to 1992 in Australia.
Lanky paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi put India on the back foot from the start with the wickets of openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul off his first seven deliveries. He finished with 3-31 after dismissing India’s top scorer, skipper Virat Kohli, for 57.
Babar along with fellow opener Mohammad Rizwan knocked off the target in 17.5 overs without losing a single wicket. Babar hit 68 not out while Rizwan finished with an undefeated 79.
This was Pakistan’s first ten wicket win in all Twenty20 internationals and the first defeat by this margin for India.
