Pace Bowling Great Wasim Akram has called on Pakistan and India’s cricketers to ignore the noise and enjoy the game when they meet in a very charged Asia Cup T20 match on Sunday.
The group A-match in Dubai is the first clash on the cricket field between the countries, since a military conflict four months ago took the relationship between the nuclear armed neighbors to their lowest point in decades.
India opposed calls to boycott the match between the couple, which has not played in any bilateral series since the deadly attacks in Mumbai in 2008.
“Enjoy, it’s a game of cricket,” said the legendary left-wing armor Akram ahead of the Sunday match, which could potentially be the first of three high octan meetings between the countries of the T20 tournament.
“Forget anything but cricket. A team wins and a team will lose,” he said.
“Just enjoy the moment if you win the game. The pressure comes, enjoy it and show discipline because this is just a game. It’s for both teams and for both sets of fans.”
A full house of 25,000 is expected at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, and Akram remembered how he thrived in such press situations during his 19-year-old international career.
“I enjoyed every game against India, and so did players from the opposition,” Akram, who led a Pakistan tournament team to India in 1999 despite threats from extremists.
The 59-year-old was also part of Pakistan’s tour of 1987, when the two countries came close to war.
Akram advised an inexperienced Pakistan team to think of the bigger picture and not be led away by the hype to play T20 world champions and Arch-Rival India.
“Pakistan has a chance when they won a tri-series last week,” Akram said, referring to a T20 series with Afghanistan and UAE.
“They shouldn’t think we just have to win against India, think of winning the Asia Cup,” he said.
“You can lose to a big team, but even then, get up and play well in the tournament.
“I don’t think the fight will be one -sided as India against UAE,” Akram said of India’s opening ROMP Wednesday, where they only needed 4.3 overs to achieve their goals after dismissing the hosts for 57.
“Everything can happen in this tournament.”
