PAK Pace Attack Is One Of The Best, Reminds Me Of The 90s: Pakistan Head Coach

Pakistan head coach Aaqib Javed lavished praise on the Pakistan pace attack ahead of the India clash and backed the trio of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf to ‘do something special’ against their arch-rivals in the all-important clash on February 23 (Sunday) in Dubai.

Pakistan need a win to stay alive in the 2025 Champions Trophy and Javed backed his pace attack to get the job done.

“We have like a specialist three, I would say one of the best pace bowling options in today's game with Shaheen, Naseem, and Haris. It reminds me of the 90’s,” Javed said in the pre-match press conference.

“So, I think reaching that level still they have time, but they have all the ability to repeat those sorts of performances. So pretty much confident and I think when you play against India it's a special feeling and I think they will bring something very special tomorrow.”

Other teams have used spin to win so far in this Champions Trophy, but Pakistan only have a solitary spinner in their squad - Abrar Ahmed - who is also inexperienced. But Javed insisted that the hosts will stick to their strengths, which is pace, and stated that there will be minimal changes to the XI that played against New Zealand.

“India has a plan to play 3-4 spinners. That is their plan. We have to play our cricket on our own strength. Our team will not see any major changes,” Javed said. 

“We have selected a team based on our beliefs. We will back this team. Our fast-bowling options are the best. These are the match winners. It's not necessary to follow the same strategy as the other teams. And these are match winners, so it is not necessary that the other team should do the same.”

The stakes are extremely high in an India-Pakistan match, leading to players, at times, feeling the pressure. The ‘pressure’, in a way, got to Pakistan in the 2023 ODI World Cup contest where they folded without a fight in front of 100,000 India fans in Ahmedabad.

But Javed asserted that pressure is a privilege and that it’s the players' job to handle it.

“See, what is pressure? To do well? And or if it doesn't go well, what will happen? These are the thoughts before and after the match. Right now, we are all guessing what will happen in this match. This is the beauty of it, what will happen. Nobody knows anything,” he said.

“So, in the same way, taking pressure is the job of the players. If you remove this pressure, what's left in Pakistan-India game? Passion and pressure is what is needed to show a player his performance.”