DALLAS: Pakistan captain Babar Azam has called on his side to stay in high spirits as they begin their Twenty20 World Cup campaign off the back of a poor run of form.

Pakistan, the 2009 T20 World Cup champions, have performed well in the past two editions of the competition, reaching the semi-finals in 2021 and losing to England in the 2022 decider.

However, their preparations for this year’s tournament in the United States and West Indies has been far from ideal, with a sobering defeat by Ireland in an eventual 2-1 series victory followed by a 2-0 defeat by England in a rain-affected series.

“Effort is in our hands, but results, we do not know,” right-handed batter 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.

“Playing in Dallas, New York and Florida will be a new challenge as we are going there as a national side for the first time. We have no information on the pitches, ground dimensions and other statistics as compared with the other cricket venues of the world,” the captain stated.

“We are in the process of collating various cricket and match-related information from the players who have played there [in the US], which can help and assist us in our preparations.”

He further said that adaptability to conditions in the US was vital to producing good results in the global event, adding that almost all higher-ranked teams were playing in the US for the first time.

Pakistan are in Group A of the World Cup and begin their campaign against hosts US on June 6 in Dallas. They will then take on arch-rivals India in one of the event’s highly-anticipated matches three days later.

Pakistan and India have faced each other seven times at the T20 World Cup, with Pakistan winning just once.

“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.”

Babar said it did not make any difference if Pakistan were involved in ‘Group of Death’ during the second round of the World Cup.

In the first-ever T20 World Cup featuring 20 teams, if Pakistan qualify for the second stage, relying on the team rankings, they will be grouped with formidable opponents like England, West Indies and South Africa. The other group is likely to comprise New Zealand, Australia, India and Sri Lanka.

Responding to a view regarding the arduous task Pakistan may face in the second round, Babar said every team in the global event was strong.

“In this era of T20 cricket, no team is weak and we, accordingly, are planning against all oppositions. We may overcome any team through proper planning, hard work and good performance,” the skipper said.

According to Babar, the team combination has been sorted out and the players should be ready to accept the roles assigned to them by the head coach and the captain as per the requirements of the occasion.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2024