Babar Azam sends out big message to Pakistan ahead of India match in T20 World Cup 2024

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Babar Azam's Pakistan cricket team is under pressure ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 following their outings in the last three T20Is series. They first played a 2-2 draw against New Zealand at home before coming to Ireland and losing the first T20I.

The Men in Green bounced back to win the next T20Is and the series, but again lost the 4-matches series in England after going winless. They suffered defeats in two games and the remaining two matches were abandoned due to rain.

Pakistan could not play any T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up game, and now they are gearing up to face USA in their tournament opener in New York without any experience of playing together as a team in the country. However, Babar Azam has suggested Pakistan to stay positive despite all the odds.

"Effort is in our hands, but results, we do not know," Babar said in an episode of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) podcast released on Sunday.

"How we present ourselves on the ground, our body language and how we communicate with each other will matter. We must be positive, so results will come... Conditions in the USA may pose challenges as we are going there as a national side for the first time.

"We are in the process of collating various cricket and match-related information from players who have played there, which can help and assist us in our preparations," he added.

Pakistan, the T20 World Cup champions in 2009, have performed well in the past two editions of the ICC showpiece event. They reached the semi-finals in 2021 and lost to England in the final in 2022.

This time around, Pakistan are in Group A alongside India, USA, Canada and Ireland. Pakistan's match against arch-rivals India is scheduled to be held on June 9 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. The Asian giants have faced each other seven times at the T20 World Cup, with Pakistan winning just once.

Babar Azam opened up on the experience of playing against India, and what it means to the players and the people of Pakistan. He stated that his players will have to focus despite all the nerves.

"An India-Pakistan match is always the most talked about; it is discussed too much wherever you go in the world," Babar said. "The players get different vibes and excitement. What will happen is that everyone supports their country, so the focus is on that match. The whole world is focused on the day when the India-Pakistan match is held.

"Naturally, there will be nerves, but we need to keep our focus, stick to the basics and play easy cricket. It is always a pressure game; the more you keep cool and calm, believe in your skills and hard work, then things get easier."