NEW YORK: Pakistan’s white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten shared that all-rounder Imad Wasim is fit and available for the team’s blockbuster T20 World Cup 2024 clash against arch-rivals India, scheduled on June 9.
Kirsten addressed the pre-match conference on the eve of the highly-anticipated fixture between arch-rivals Pakistan and India and confirmed Imad Wasim’s availability for the big game. He also expressed his hope for a turnaround for the Green Shirts in the tournament.
“Imad Wasim will be available for the match against India,” Kirsten confirmed.
“We will make a comeback in tomorrow’s match hopefully. I don’t like to dwell on the past, we will forget the previous loss [against the USA] and focus on the match [against India] and play excellent cricket,” he added.
Kirsten then discussed the nature of the T20s and emphasized the need to improve decision-making to excel in the format.
Just like Indian captain Rohit Sharma, Gary Kirsten asserted that playing a couple of games at a venue would not benefit a team.
“Things change quickly in T20s, we have to move the decision-making,” Kirsten said. “Nobody gets an advantage if a team plays two or four more games here.”
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Kirsten then went on to share that Pakistan’s Playing XI has not been finalized as of yet as the management is analyzing a few players’ fitness.
“We are looking at the fitness of a couple of players so the playing XI has not been decided yet. The players know about [the game of] one another, we will have to play our best game according to the conditions.”
For the unversed, Pakistan and India will lock horns for the eighth time in a T20 World Cup when they square off at the newly-built Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on June 9.
Out of seven matches played thus far between the arch-rivals, India emerged victorious six times while Pakistan tasted triumph only once.
The two teams boast contrasting momentums as India eased past Ireland by eight wickets in the campaign opener while Pakistan succumbed to a humiliating defeat against the USA.
Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup 2024
Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Usman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Azam Khan, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub.
India squad for T20 World Cup 2024
Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya (vc), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
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