Colombo, Feb 16 (.) India all-rounder Axar Patel said that the Men in Blue approached their high-stakes ICC Men’s T20 World Cup clash against Pakistan with a focus on strategy over rivalry.
After a commanding 61-run victory in Colombo, he said that the team treated Pakistan like any other opponent, focusing solely on executing their plans rather than the historic cricketing tension between the sides.
India registered a comprehensive 61-run win in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Sunday.
“See, we are seeing them as a team. So we are not thinking about this rivalry or whatever. We are playing against one team, and we are just focusing on cricket,” Axar said after the match.
“So whenever I am playing, I am not thinking about others. I treat it as one match and opponent. So I’m not thinking about any rivalry or whatever.”
India strengthened their spin attack for the high-profile clash by bringing in Kuldeep Yadav in place of pacer Arshdeep Singh, a move Axar said was based on pitch conditions and team balance.
“Yes, about the three spinners, we feel that selection should be according to the pitch. In such a big tournament, for a particular match, we should not make too many changes. When you get help from the pitch, you will go for it. So this was the planning, and we made the team combination according to that,” he said.
He added that the team ignored external narratives and concentrated on its own strengths.
“Whatever the captain says, we are focusing on our strength, and it’s outside talk. We are just thinking about our plan and our execution. We are taking one match at a time,” he said.
India delivered a clinical performance to crush Pakistan by 61 runs, extending their dominant head-to-head record in men’s T20 World Cups to 8-1.
Axar played a key role with the ball, returning figures of 2 for 29 in four overs and also effecting the run-outs of Babar Azam and Usman Khan, as Pakistan slumped to 34 for four early in the chase.
Hardik Pandya (2/16), Jasprit Bumrah (2/17), and Varun Chakravarthy (2/17) provided strong support as India bowled Pakistan out comfortably.
Earlier, Ishan Kishan starred with the bat, scoring 77 runs to earn the Player of the Match award and set up India’s emphatic victory.
. VAN .