India vs Pakistan: PM Imran Khan weighs in on cricket lineup
NEW DELHI : India vs Pakistan is a cricketing rivalry that transcends beyond the realms of 22-yards. Even if they feel that it’s just another game, perhaps all players in their hearts know that this is a special match even if at times the reason is purely non-cricketing.
Who can understand this better than Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, a former captain who led his country to World Cup glory in 1992.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has weighed in on the selection of the national XI for the highly anticipated Cricket World Cup group game against India on Sunday. It’s not garden-variety political interference, though. Khan led Pakistan to their Cricket World Cup title in 1992.
He has advised skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed to go in with specialists in the batting and bowling departments. “In order to have a winning offensive strategy Sarfaraz must go in with specialist batsmen and bowlers,” Khan posted on Twitter in the hours leading up to Sunday’s match in Manchester, England.
Khan also said that both teams will be under “great mental pressure, and the power of the mind will decide the outcome of the match. In Sarfaraz we are fortunate to have a bold captain & today he will have to be at his daring best”.
Hours before the two sides take the field at Old Trafford in Manchester, Khan in a series of tweets sought to bolster the morale of the young Pakistani side and gave them some cricketing tips too.
He said he earlier used to feel that success in cricket was 70 per cent talent & 30 per cent mind. “By the time I finished playing cricket I felt it was 50-50 ratio. But now I tend to agree with my friend Gavaskar it’s 60% mental strength & 40 % talent. Today role of mind will be more than 60%,” he tweeted.(With Agency Inputs ).
