The Babar Azam-led Pakistan contingent landed at the Hyderabad airport on Wednesday evening amid tight security. The Pakistani group had taken a connecting flight from Lahore via Dubai to Hyderabad as they aim to kick-start their World Cup 2023 campaign soon.
The Pakistani contingent was met with a handful of supporters at the Hyderabad airport. There was a small crowd present to receive them along with the tight security of the police and officials. Some fans even cheered and chanted Babar Azam’s name.
The Pakistani skipper took to his Instagram story to express his emotions for the support he got at the Hyderabad airport.
“Overwhelmed with the love and support here in Hyderabad!” Babar Azam captioned his Insta story.
“Not just semi-finals, we want to win World Cup”: Babar Azam
Before boarding the flight for Hyderabad, Babar attended a press conference in Lahore, where he made it clear that his team’s aim is not just to reach the semi-finals but to win the World Cup in India.
“The top four is a small goal for us. We want to come out as winners. We did not have enough time to put together a camp before the World Cup because we had been playing for too long continuously. Instead, we gave the players a break so they could come back refreshed and with the hunger to win. You play well when you have that hunger.”
Pakistan will play their two warm-up matches, against New Zealand and Australia in Hyderabad, on September 29 and October 3. They will kick off their World Cup tournament on October 6 against the Netherlands, followed by a match against Sri Lanka on October 10, before they meet the hosts and arch-rivals India on October 14 in Ahmedabad.
This is the Pakistan team’s first visit to India since 2016 when they played the T20 World Cup here.
Pakistan recently failed to qualify for the final of the Asia Cup 2023 suffering defeats against India and Sri Lanka.
