Captain Salman Agha, though, is sure his team can handle the challenge. In 2025, India and Pakistan will face off once more at the Asia Cup. The bitter rivals will meet again on September 21 in Dubai after both sides advanced to the Super Four. Pakistan will be under tremendous pressure to perform after losing by seven wickets in their last encounter and being embroiled in a no-handshake dispute.
With a 41-run victory over the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan secured their spot in the Super Four. Their bowlers secured victory over a UAE team despite their total of 146/9. The innings gained some pace from Shaheen Afridi’s late cameo (29* off 14), but Fakhar Zaman’s fifty was the only noteworthy contribution at the top.
Any side will be good against us: Salman Agha
Men in Green’s victory helped them forget the turmoil surrounding their threatening boycott of the UAE match, which stemmed from their protests against match referee Andy Pycroft following the India handshake dispute. Salman Agha emphasised in his remarks following the team’s triumph over the UAE that they must concentrate on playing good cricket and not let outside noise divert them.
Yes, we are prepared for any task. All we want is to play cricket well, and if we do, it will be just as good as it has been for the past few months. During the post-match presentation, Salman Agha stated, “I believe we’ll be good against any side.”
Pakistan’s batting problems are a serious worry, the captain acknowledged. He cited their inability to post competitive totals due to their difficulties in the middle overs.
“We completed the task, but we still need to improve our middle-over batting.” That, in my opinion, is what has been worrying us for a few games. We must examine that. Even though we haven’t yet given it our all, we are still managing to reach 150 or so. Regardless of the side we are playing against, if we bat well in the middle over, we should finish up scoring 170-180. Therefore, if we bat well in the middle overs, we will be excellent,” he continued.
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