Pakistan ready for Australia challenge at World Cup

BENGALURU (92 News) - It is Bengaluru’s turn to get the limelight as Pakistan take on Australia at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday.

It is the maiden contest of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 at the venue and the battle of the two cricket powerhouses promises to deliver thrill and excitement to the fans in the stands and around the world.

This is the Babar Azam-led side’s fourth match in the tournament and they are placed fourth on the 10-team points table with two wins from three matches. They have had five days to rejuvenate since their arrival in the city. Over the last two days, the team has practiced under lights and in the afternoon, in their bid to acclimatize to the conditions.

“I think the first impressions from everyone was cool, it is a pretty small venue. Boundaries are short here and the conditions for the game look very good,” Grant Bradburn, the Pakistan head coach, told PCB Digital in the lead-up to the game. “We have done our homework on the venue – it is quite a high scoring venue that probably relates more to the boundary size, which is 63-64 meters. The batters really enjoyed the opportunity to get on some true surfaces and the bowlers enjoyed it too as there is a fair bit of bounce.

“It is going to be a venue where the batters are going to really enjoy getting in on and the bowlers are also going to be really asked some serious questions. I do not think there is going to be a lot of margin for error on this wicket … As a bowling attack, you know, we haven't been quite as accurate as we would like to be in recent times and this venue is going to demand some discipline and accuracy.”

Australia have had an uncharacteristic start to their World Cup campaign, going down against India and South Africa before bouncing back with a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka. They have had an upper hand over Pakistan in the 50-over World Cup, winning six out of 10 matches. But, the most recent outing in the format between the two sides saw Pakistan come on top with a 2-1 win in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League series.

Undaunted by the past record, Pakistan, Bradburn said, are all set for the Australia challenge and are eager to make it 3-1 before they move to Chennai for their back-to-back contests against Afghanistan and South Africa.

“It is a collection of the 150 best cricketers on the planet and there's 10 worthy teams here,” he said. “So, and as we are seeing in the last week, anyone can beat anyone. We have done our homework on Australia. We know what they can contain, we know their style of play, we know what their strengths are and we know where we might be able to exploit them.

“But, most of all, we are looking into the mirror and making sure that we're true to ourselves by  making sure that we are challenging each other in the right way. We are a tight unit and we back everyone in this group, but we are certainly becoming more comfortable to challenge the performances and roles in the different phases of the game. We acknowledge as a group that we haven't put together the true performance across all three disciplines yet but we know when we do that, it's a beautiful thing.”