India captain Rohit Sharma has lauded the efforts of the Pakistan cricket team for becoming the top-ranked ODI team ahead of the high-octane Asia Cup 2023 clash.
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Pakistan topped the ODI rankings after its 3-0 whitewash of Afghanistan this month.
Rohit Sharma, in a presser ahead of the match, said becoming the top-ranked ODI team was not an easy task for the Green Shirts.
“Pakistan is a very good team,” he said. “They’ve been performing very well in the last few years, whether in the T20 World Cup or 50-over cricket. No team becomes Number 1 just like that; it takes a lot of effort.
“I’m sure the Pakistan team has worked hard to become Number 1. They play like a unit and are playing good cricket, so it’ll be a challenge for us.”
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The right-handed batter also revealed India team’s strategy against Pakistan pace-trio Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf. He said they don’t have the pacers like them but are relying on his side’s experience instead.
“We don’t have Shaheen, Naseem, and Rauf in our nets, so we have to practice against who we have available. All three are quality bowlers and have been performing well. Pakistan have always had quality bowlers. We’ve looked at their strengths and how they bowl. We’ve been playing for so long so we must utilize our experience to play them, it’s as simple as that.” he said.
It is pertinent to mention that India will be starting its Asia Cup 2023 campaign against arch rivals Pakistan on September 2 (Saturday) in Kandy.
Pakistan already started the tournament on a winning note as it crushed minnows Nepal by 248 runs on Thursday.
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