Told Iftikhar Ahmed to play his natural game: Babar Azam

Babar-Azam-and-Iftikhar-Ahmed. (Photo by Asif HASSAN / AFP) (Photo by ASIF HASSAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Pakistan and Nepal squared off in the opening game of Asia Cup 2023 on Wednesday, August 30 in Multan. Babar Azam won the toss and opted to bat first. The opening pair of Fakhar Zaman and Imam-Ul-Haq struggled on a pitch that seemed a bit slow. They were dismissed soon as the hosts found themselves in a spot of bother at 25/2.

Captain Babar and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan formed a vital 86-run partnership to lay the platform for Pakistan. Agha Salman departed soon after but Iftikhar Ahmed joined Babar and they formed a 214-run partnership to bat Nepal out of the game.

While the skipper scored 151 off 131 balls, Iftikhar played a swashbuckling innings of 109* off just 71 deliveries. Pakistan eventually won the match by 238 runs as Nepal only managed to score 104 in reply to the mammoth target of 343. After the match, Babar talked about his partnership with Rizwan and revealed that he had asked Iftikhar to play his natural game.

“When I went in, the ball wasn’t coming on properly, so I was trying to build an innings with Rizwan. Then we had a different phase, sometimes Rizwan gave me confidence, sometimes I gave him belief,” Babar said in the post-match presentation.

“Iftikhar also played a great innings when he came on. When he came in, I told him to play his natural game and he was comfortable after 2-3 boundaries,” he added.

This win will give us confidence against India: Babar Azam

The highly-anticipated India versus Pakistan clash is scheduled to take place on September 2 in Pallekele. Pakistan’s talismanic batter felt that the win against Nepal would help the ‘Men in Green’ enter the high-voltage clash with confidence.

“This win will give us confidence, India-Pakistan will always bring high intensity, we will try our best,” he concluded.

While India will pose a much stiffer challenge, having the winning momentum can bode well for Pakistan. They have been in good form in recent times as they came into the tournament after handing Afghanistan a 3-0 ODI series defeat in Sri Lanka.