Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman made a big statement about playing cricket in India and the Indian fans. Acknowledging the passion of the Indian fans, the left-handed Pakistan opener said that India is the best country in the world to play cricket in, but only when you are not playing against the home side.
Fakhar is on his first trip to India to play World Cup 2023. He didn’t feature in Pakistan’s playing XI against India in front of 130,000 Indian fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. But Fakhar Zaman returned to Pakistan’s XI and his blockbuster knocks against Bangladesh and New Zealand in their last two matches kept Pakistan alive, at least now mathematically, in the semi-final race.
Ahead of Pakistan’s match against England in Kolkata, Zaman spoke highly of the Indian fans.
“The cricket in India is of excellent quality. You enjoy crowd support a lot if you are not playing against India. It was a great experience playing World Cup in India. India is the best in the world to play cricket,” Fakhar Zaman said.
Babar Azam banking on Fakhar Zaman as Pakistan seek massive win over England
Pakistan will have to defeat England in Kolkata by over 287 runs to surpass their NRR over the NRR of New Zealand, who currently occupy the 4th spot in the points table.
The Pakistan captain Babar Azam, in the pre-match press conference, put his trust in Zaman’s ability to give Pakistan a thunderous start and bat for long to take their score to over 400. However, that would seem close to impossible as Kolkata has been one of the toughest batting pitches in the World Cup. Zaman recently smashed 126 not out off 81 balls against New Zealand, but that knock came in Bangalore.
“I would say if Fakhar is [batting] in the match for 20 or 30 overs, we can achieve that,” Babar said. “Then follow up with [Mohammad] Rizwan, [and] Iftikhar [Ahmed]. We can do this, and we have planned for this.”
“There is one match left. You never know: it’s cricket. We will try to finish on a good note, and then see.”
