HAVING left the hot weather, the hostile crowds and their drubbing against hosts India in Ahmedabad behind, the Pakistan squad held their first training session in the much cooler and quieter southern city here on Tuesday.

It was an optional practice session, with six of the 18 players of the squad including the travelling reserves not attending it at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The big names that decided to get an extra bit of rest ahead of the side’s fourth fixture of the World Cup against Australia on Friday were Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan.

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A number of players had also recovered from fever following the India clash according to the Pakistan media manager. That, however, wasn’t necessarily the reason behind a few players missing training.

The Pakistan squad, as it seems, is easing out of the zone the defeat against India and the Ahmedabad experience had left it in and reminding itself of the warm welcome they received in Hyderabad — their first destination for the 50-over showpiece.

They need that to keep going, especially with a spot in the semi-finals in sight having won two of their three games.

“…we are enjoying the matches and the welcome and support that we have got has been great,” Pakistan spinner Mohammad Nawaz told Dawn before training.

“Going forward from here we have only one aim, which is to qualify for the semi-finals and we’ll try to win the [remaining] games to do that,” the slow left-arm orthodox spinner maintained.

Australia, who came from behind to win their first match of the tournament against Sri Lanka on Monday, are Pakistan’s next task. And unlike the Netherlands and Sri Lanka, they will be a force to be reckoned with for Babar Azam’s men.

To do well against Pat Cummins and co, Pakistan would need to up their ante with the ball in the middle overs, where their spinners have failed to strike regularly — which hasn’t happened so far at the World Cup.

Nawaz believes it will happen sooner or later and that his past performances vouch for him.

“I understand there are expectations [from the spinners] but they are only there when you have done well in the past, which we have done, we have won matches for the team,” he argued.

“There is no doubt that we [spinners] haven’t taken wickets in middle overs during the Asia Cup and the World Cup so far but it isn’t the end of the world.

“We are working on it and we understand that it is important to take wickets in middle overs.”

Nawaz and his spin partner Shadab Khan’s inability to make an impact for Pakistan against the more experienced teams recently has opened up talks of replacing one of them with upcoming leg-spinner Usama Mir, who has shown promise in the chances that he has been given so far.

Nawaz was of the opinion that Usama should play if the team management wanted that to happen.

“It is not a given that only me and Shadab will play,” he said. “Whatever the management assesses in terms of the conditions and the combination it deems right, we work according to that.

“Whoever gets the opportunity tries to deliver for the team and I’m sure Usama also thinks like that.”

Nawaz termed playing against India in front of 120,000 home supporters at the mammoth Narendra Modi Stadium as a “memorable experience”, while adding that he would have preferred having some Pakistan supporters at the venue, like it was in the T20 World Cup between the archrivals in Melbourne last year.

“I also played in Melbourne, it was a huge crowd as well but it was still a 60-40 and both Indian and Pakistan players were getting almost equal support but over here we had an idea that being in India’s home ground and there would not be any visible [for Pakistan],” he noted.

“But that’s not an excuse of not doing well but overall it was a memorable experience for the players.”

In Bangalore, just like its cold October breeze and serene vibes, the fans are expected to back the Pakistan team whom they last saw in action here back in 2007.

After all, Pakistan play two matches here, and the city’s fans wouldn’t want their guests from across the border to return with bad memories, like those of Ahmedabad.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2023