T20 World Cup 2022: "We believed as a team that we can defeat them"- Wasim Akram recalls Pakistan's victory over New Zealand in 1992
Former Pakistan quick Wasim Akram reckoned that the current team gave glimpses of their 1992 World Cup success. The Men in Green won the tournament under Imran Khan's captaincy after initially being on the brink of exit.
It was a similar stage of the tournament in neighboring New Zealand 30 years ago when Pakistan went on to lift the trophy after they knocked out the hosts to enter the final.
The Babar Azam-led squad too similarly scripted an incredible fightback in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2022 and gave a sheer testament of their prowess to book the finals berth after outclassing the Kiwis in the semi-finals.
In an interview with A Sports, Akram said,
"Pakistan is one of the top sides in the world to qualify for the semi finals, which is their sixth appearance overall. If we compare to the 1992 World Cup, when we played New Zealand, we believed as a team that we can defeat them.
"It is always a psychological battle against the Kiwis and it is important to have that belief as an unit. Recently, we won a tri-series in New Zealand. Talking about World Cups, Pakistan have faced the Kiwis six times where we have won four times."
The Pakistan legend further added,
"Pakistan has also never lost a semi-final in any ICC tournament be it in the ODI format or the T20 format and I pray we can continue this form."
Pakistan qualify for T20 World Cup final for the first time in 13 years
Pakistan beat all odds to book a final berth in the T20 World Cup after a wait of 13 years. The last time the Men in Green qualified was back in 2009 when they eventually went on to win the tournament, outclassing Sri Lanka by eight wickets.
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Pakistan put up an emphatic display in every department. An excellent bowling spell from Shaheen Afridi and a batting masterclass from skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan helped Pakistan prevail against the Kiwis by seven wickets. Pakistan are now one victory away from completing a T20 World Cup miracle.