Asia Cup 2023: Win against Nepal will give us confidence ahead of India clash, says Pakistan skipper Babar Azam

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam on Wednesday said that his team’s 238-run win over Nepal in the opening game of Asia Cup in Multan gave them confidence ahead of their marquee clash against India on 2 September.

Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed slammed centuries to guide Pakistan to 342/6 from 50 overs, and in reply, all Nepal could put on the board was a total of 104. Shadab Khan ran riot with the ball to end with figures of 4/27.

Azam scored 151 while Iftikhar remained unbeaten on 109.

“When I went in, the ball wasn’t coming on properly, so I was trying to build an innings with Rizwan. Then we had a different phase, sometimes Rizwan gave me confidence, sometimes I gave him belief. Iftikhar also played a great innings when he came on,” said Babar at the post-match presentation. The Pakistan captain also went onto win the Player of the Match award.

“When he came in, I told him to play his natural game and he was comfortable after 2-3 boundaries. A couple of overs we weren’t up to the mark, but the way our pacers started and then the spinners were brilliant,” he added.

Babar said that Pakistan would try their best to beat India in Pallekele on Saturday.

“This win will give us the confidence, India Pakistan will always bring high intensity, we will try our best.”

Rohit Paudel, Nepal skipper, said that Babar and Iftikhar took away the game from them.

“ We started well with the ball, but both set batters took the game away from us. We have batted better before and we missed out today. Wicket taking balls were not there in middle overs, but credit to Babar for the way he batted, credit to Pakistan,” he said.

Shadab Khan said Iftikhar showcased his power-hitting ability.

“It was hot out there, but Sri Lanka was hot as well but Sri Lanka was more humid. I can’t talk about Babar because we all know he is a world class player, Iftikhar has done so much for much whenever he gets the opportunity. He showcased his power hitting really well today,” said Shadab.

Nepal will next take on India in Pallekele on Monday (4 September).