‘Records meant to be broken’: Babar shrugs off India stranglehold

AFP :
Defiant Pakistan captain Babar Azam declared Friday that “records are meant to be broken” as his team looks to break free of India’s World Cup stranglehold when the bitter rivals clash on Saturday.

India boast a 7-0 record over their neighbours in World Cups despite Pakistan having a healthy 73-56 overall advantage since their first one-day international clash back in 1978.

“I don’t focus on the past,” said Azam on Friday.

“Let’s focus on the thing to come as we know records are meant to be broken.”

“We will try to play well and it all depends on how you play on the day, just like we did in the first two matches,” added the skipper whose side have two wins from two at the World Cup after seeing off the Netherlands and Sri Lanka.

Azam said he has told his players that Saturday’s clash inside the 132,000-capacity Ahmedabad stadium is a “golden opportunity” to write their names into World Cup folklore.

“The India-Pakistan match is a big game, high intensity.

Every such game is challenging,” added Azam, a survivor of the 2019 World Cup clash in Manchester which India won by 89 runs.

“I have told (the players) it’s the best opportunity to perform.

It is a big stadium that can accommodate many fans, it’s a golden opportunity for us to perform in front of these fans.”