Victory against India would give us momentum: Sarfraz Ahmed

Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed reckons that his side’s match against arch-rivals India in the Asia Cup, would set the tone for them for the rest of the series.

The men in green would start their campaign on September 16 and they would face India in their second match three days later.

Ahmed, as quoted by The Indian Express, said, “Our preparation is very good. We will try to use the four days we get in the UAE and prepare well. Every match we play against India is important. The match against India will be our first big match and we will try to gain the momentum. We will try to be fully prepared against India.”

The wicket-keeper further stressed on the fact that momentum is key to good performances in such competitions and that a win against India would provide them with much of it for the rest of the tournament.

“I have already said momentum is very important for big events and here also momentum would be the key. The team has high hopes and the morale is also very good. So we will try to gain the momentum from the first match and carry that till the end,” he stated.

Fully aware of the conditions in the UAE having played most of Pakistan’s home series there, Ahmed said that the spinners would have a role to play, especially with the pitch being slow.

“If you look at the pitches there (UAE), they are generally slow in nature. So the spinners’ role would be very crucial,” Ahmed added.

He also went on to say that his side has a quality bowling attack and he would want his batsmen to score 300+ runs while batting first.

He said, “If we bat first, we would like to post 300 plus targets and if we do so we have bowlers to defend that target.”

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