“I don’t think we feel the pressure of this game,” he said. “We’re focusing on what we can control. We want to continue our momentum. The boys are excited. You know India-Pakistan is a high-intensity match, and the fans wait for it for a while. We’re similarly excited. We’re going to stick with the same top order; but if we don’t get a good start, I am encouraged by the middle order stepping up. They’re chipping in. We had been lagging in the middle order for a while, but they’re responding well now.”
There is something of an elephant in the room, though, with Pakistan having to travel more than any other side at a tournament they are ostensibly hosting. They began by flying from Colombo to Multan for the game against Nepal, and left from the stadium directly for the airport to return to Sri Lanka.
After the game against India, they will, in all likelihood, be flying back to Pakistan for a Super Four match on September 6, only to return to Sri Lanka once more for all their remaining games. India’s refusal to play in Pakistan made that a necessity, and as it has turned out, they happen to enjoy a much lighter travel load, staying in Sri Lanka throughout the tournament.
“When the Asia Cup was announced, we knew we’d have to travel a lot. The physios and trainers looked after us,” Babar said. “We had been preparing since the schedule was announced. Travel is a part of cricket [for which] you have to be prepared; I don’t expect it to affect our performance.”
Babar was even optimistic enough to be dismissive of rain playing spoilsport.
“The amount I’ve played here I haven’t seen the weather affect cricket. The radar might say there’s rain around but it doesn’t really happen.”