Azam unfazed by India hoodoo

PAKISTAN captain Babar Azam has played down his team’s miserable World Cup record against India, insisting the past has been ‘forgotten’ ahead of today’s marquee clash in Dubai.

Twelve matches between the sides across the one-day and Twenty20 tournaments have produced 11 Indian wins and a tie — with their dramatic victory over the Pakistanis in the 2007 World T20 final at Johannesburg ushering in the IPL and a global fixation with the money-spinning format.

The fractious nature of the countries’ relationship, particularly over the disputed region of Kashmir, means they play each other these days only at ICC events.

And while Pakistan memorably beat India in the 2017 Champions Trophy final at the Oval, they have lost four out of five against them in T20 World Cups and seven out of seven at the 50-over equivalent.

‘We have forgotten what we have done in the past and are trying to focus on the future,’ said Azam, the world’s No2 batsman in the format. ‘We will try to do better in the field, and in this match try to produce better results.’

If that sounded a sensible approach to a fixture that rarely allows time for clear thinking, then his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli said the only way to cope with the hype was to treat the match like any other. It may prove easier said than done.

‘We need to be in the most balanced place possible,’ he said. ‘It’s very important for us to keep focused on the cricket because there’s such unnecessary stuff happening on the outside.

‘That’s fine, as long as that stays outside our controlled environment and we just focus on what we need to do. For me, it’s never different to any other game we play.’

India start the tournament as favourites, and with Kohli set to step down as captain of the T20 side to focus on the Test and 50over jobs, victory in the UAE would be the perfect sign-off.