Unfazed Babar Azam plays down India-Pakistan World Cup game hype, says focus should be on all matches

Pakistan captain Babar Azam is unfazed by the hype around India vs Pakistan clash at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in India later this year. With Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad slated to host the high-octane clash on October 15, Babar feels the mega-event is not about just one game, as the focus for the team would remain to do well against all teams and stay on top of the points table in the end.

Speaking to the media in Karachi, where most of Pakistan players are attending a camp before flying to Sri Lanka for the two-match Test series, Babar said all the hype around the most-talked-about match at the World Cup wouldn't distract his team from achieving the bigger goal - which is to win the tournament for the first time since 1992.

"We are going to play World Cup and not just going to play against India only," Babar said. "There are eight other teams, and it's not only India, and only if we beat them then we will make it into the final. We are not focused on only one team, we are focused on all other teams in the tournament. Our plan is that we have to play well against all of them and win against them."

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The final schedule is already out, with Pakistan starting their campaign against two qualifying teams - the Netherlands on October 6 and Sri Lanka on October 12, both in Hyderabad. Following that, the big clash against host India will get underway in Ahmedabad.

Pakistan's remaining six matches will take place in cities like Bengaluru (vs Australia on October 20 and New Zealand on November 4), Chennai (vs Afghanistan on October 23 and against South Africa on October 27) and at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata (against Bangladesh on October 31 and England on November 12).

'I aspire to win in every country'

Babar said: "In our thought, wherever the cricket will be played, wherever the matches are, we are going to play there. Because as professionals that is what we do, you have to be ready for everything. You prepare yourself for different conditions and in every environment and that is what we call a challenge, and you take it to live up to it.

"Me, as a player and captain, I aspire to score runs in every country, dominate and win Pakistan games. So this is all we have in mind and not only that we're going to play against one team."

Pakistan's latest assignment is against Sri Lanka as both teams will face off in the two-match Test series starting July 16 in Galle.

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