“Once we have a good 30-40 minutes on the field, you never know” – USA captain Monank Patel warns Babar Azam’s Pakistan ahead of T20 World Cup clash
Co-hosts USA captain Monank Patel has warned Pakistan ahead of their T20 World Cup clash at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas on Thursday (June 6). Patel said that the USA can pose a threat to Pakistan if they can dominate the game for at least half an hour.
The comments came as the USA beat Bangladesh 2-1 in their recently concluded T20I series. They also defeated Canada by seven wickets in their T20 World Cup opener in Dallas.
Meanwhile, Pakistan lost their most recent T20I series 0-2 against England. The Babar Azam-led side lost a T20I against lower-ranked Ireland before that. The Men in Green also lost a T20I series in New Zealand earlier this year but under Shaheen Afridi’s captaincy. They, however, were runners-up at the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Monank Patel said in his pre-match press conference (via The Times of India):
"I mean, we won't focus much on the Pakistan side. We want to focus on our cricket. And we want to make sure that we continue playing the way we've been playing. And you know, it's T20. Once we have a good 30-40 minutes on the field, you never know. We can take the game away.”
"The first game definitely helped us. We got good momentum. We will make sure that we carry forward that momentum in the next game. Pakistan is a good side, is a well-experienced side and we will make sure that we play the cricket we have been playing,” Patel added.
“His wicket will be really important for us” – Monank Patel on Babar Azam’s importance in T20 World Cup fixture
Monank Patel reckons that the USA have to dismiss Babar Azam early to put up a strong fight against Pakistan in their T20 World Cup fixture. He also believes left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir can pose a good challenge with the ball.
"Babar is a great batsman in all the formats. He is the main player and he is the captain. If he plays long innings, we have seen in the past also. So yeah, his wicket will be really important for us and we all know his stats. He's been very consistent in T20s,” Patel said in his presser.
Pakistan has good experienced bowlers. We will focus on Mohammad Amir who is an experienced Pakistani bowler, we will try to tackle him well," he added.
Babar Azam recently became the second batter to complete 4,000 runs in T20Is. Meanwhile, Mohammad Amir remains a doubtful starter for Pakistan. Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Naseem Shah remain the favorites among the seamers.