What has Azam vowed not to do in the Asia Cup?

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Babar Azam there are no easy games in the Asia Cup Pakistan cricket

Babar Azam: “There are no easy games in the Asia Cup”

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Pakistan batsman Babar Azam has insisted that both he and his side won’t be underestimating either Hong Kong or India in the Asia Cup.

Pakistan will go up against Hong Kong, who won the qualifying tournament, on September 16 in Dubai before taking on arch-rivals India three days later.

Even though Pakistan have backed to cruise past Hong Kong, Azam insisted that the national team will not let their guard down.

He added that they will have the same mentality when they clash with India, who will be without captain Virat Kohli as he has been rested for the tournament.

“There are no easy games in the Asia Cup and we cannot take the Hong Kong game lightly,” he was quoted as saying by PakPassion. “The match against India will be an interesting one.

“Virat Kohli is a match-winner and in good form so his absence will be very beneficial for us and we will make use of that. India have a good side with Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni, who are very experienced players.

“We are not worried about any threat from an Indian player but are focused on the first match against Hong Kong.”

While he made it clear India will be no pushovers, Azam admitted that he is excited about the prospect of playing the men in blue up to three times.

“The fact that we may play India three times in this tournament is a challenge for us and something for us to enjoy as well,” he said. “Pakistan-India games are watched by a lot of people and we also enjoy it.

“There is no pressure is such games and we just need to play our natural game and perform as per the game situation.”


Pakistan are coming into the Asia Cup on a high as they whitewashed Zimbabwe 5-0 in their recent ODI series.

But, with openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq stealing the spotlight throughout the series, there have been concerns about the lack of match time Pakistan’s middle order batsmen have gotten as of late.

Azam, however, is in no way concerned about this, and said: “Whilst the Pakistan top order in Zimbabwe did perform well, going back a bit, you will see that the middle order also has performed their roles and in that sense, Shoaib Malik and Asif Ali’s performances have been good.

“So its not true that the Asia Cup will be a challenge for the middle order as they may be out of practice; everyone is in good form and hopefully we will do well.”

As for what his role in the team is, Azam said: “Whenever I go in to bat, I go in with the intention to bat through the innings and to avail the chance given to me, with the aim to build an innings and help my team.”