Pakistan batter Saim Ayub said on Saturday that the team was not just focusing on the Pakistan-India match, but winning the men\u2019s Asia Cup.<\/p>\n
The arch-rivals will clash in a geopolitically-charged men\u2019s Asia Cup contest in Dubai on Sunday. It will be the first cricket match between the sides since four days of military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May.<\/p>\n
While reigning T20 world champions<\/a> India are the firm favourites to retain their title, Pakistan are on a high, having convincingly beaten Afghanistan to win the final of a tri-series and Oman in the lead-up to the contest.<\/p>\n Speaking at the pre-match press conference in Dubai, Saim said: \u201cWe are not just looking forward to the Pakistan-India match, but we are looking forward to winning the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that the current tournament is what matters at this moment.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Responding to a question about Pakistan\u2019s new batting approach against the quality of the Indian attack, Saim said: \u201cThe focus is on playing fearless cricket against all opponents\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking on the India match after the Green Shirts\u2019 thumping victory<\/a> against Oman on Friday, Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha said: \u201cWe have been playing good cricket in the last two-three months and we just have to play good cricket.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can execute our plans for a long enough period, we can beat any team,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Earlier in the week, Pakistan\u2019s white-ball head coach Mike Hesson dismissed concerns about the national squad\u2019s batting performance on Thursday ahead of the upcoming Asia Cup clash with India.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Hesson said he was \u201cnot quite sure\u201d where the concerns were arising from, saying the team had played against the \u201cbest wrist spin attack\u201d in the world and won by over 70 runs against Afghanistan in the tri-series final.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very much a developing batting lineup. There\u2019s many players who can win you the game on their day, but they don\u2019t have as many good days as you\u2019d like at the moment \u2026 the thing for us is that we are more interested in the sum of the parts as a batting group.\u201d<\/p>\n Indian players must move past emotions against Pakistan, says assistant coach<\/p>\n Meanwhile, India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said the players need to put their emotions to one side.<\/p>\n Asked if public sentiment in India weighs on the minds of the players, Ten Doeschate on Saturday said: \u201cYes, I think it will. It\u2019s a very sensitive issue, and I\u2019ve got no doubt the players share the compassion and feeling of the vast majority of the Indian public.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe Asia Cup was in a limbo for a long period of time and we were just waiting. We didn\u2019t think we were going to be coming at one stage,\u201d said Ten Doeschate, a former Dutch all-rounder.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, you know what the Indian government\u2019s stance is on it, and now the team and particularly the players, you have to put those sentiments and the emotions behind, that\u2019s something we addressed in the team meeting,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Ten Doeschate accepted that India start as favourites.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing totally honest, and looking at recent form and how the teams have played, India do start as favourites tomorrow. We will be focused on 120 balls with bat and ball,\u201d Ten Doeschate said.<\/p>\n Ten Doeschate said India have done their homework after Pakistan dropped star batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.<\/p>\n India go into the match after beating the United Arab Emirates by nine wickets after bowling them out for 57 in 13.1 overs before returning to chase down the target in 27 balls on Thursday.<\/p>\n Even before the clashes in May, which nearly escalated into a full-blown war, bilateral cricket ties were suspended. The arch-rivals now play each other only in multi-team tournaments.<\/p>\n Political relations have deteriorated further since the clashes, with several former Indian players urging the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to boycott<\/a> what will be the first meeting between the teams since the recent hostilities.<\/p>\n