- Salman Ali Agha’s media interaction is available here
- Abdullah Shafique’s media interaction is available here
- Haris Rauf’s media interaction is available here
Lahore, 25 September 2023: Members of Pakistan’s squad for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique and Haris Rauf held media interactions today at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore prior to the team’s departure to India.
The transcript from the media interactions is below:
Salman Ali Agha
“Middle overs are very important in 50-overs cricket, both with batting and bowling. You cannot predict what you will be required to do, so I cannot say what [our plan for the middle overs] is right now. It will entirely depend on the requirement of the team, once we start playing the tournament.”
“We did not end the Asia Cup as we should have, which was disappointing but the morale of the team is great right now. The past is in the past, we cannot do anything about it now. We are now focused on the World Cup. We are learning from our mistakes and are backed by the management. We will try our best to return with the trophy and live up to the expectations of our fans.”
“Playing the World Cup is everyone’s dream. Growing up, it was mine too and I am getting to fulfill my dream. I have worked hard in the domestic circuit for the past 8-10 years and getting named in the World Cup squad is a result of that.”
Abdullah Shafique
“I will only be focusing on the controllable [factors]. Playing XIs are not in my control, but giving my best whenever I get to perform is something I can do. My plan is that I will do my best for Pakistan, wherever I am asked.”
“White-ball cricket has gotten very attacking in the recent years and our management is aware of that. We plan to play accordingly as well.”
“I am very excited about the World Cup, as it is a big tournament and everyone follows it. I try to make sure that I live up to my potential, no matter what situation I come in, and perform when asked, even if it is not in the [opening] position. We do not perform individually, but as a team and act according to the need of the team.”
“We are not going to play only India in the World Cup, so we are giving the rest of the teams our equal attention. Our focus is on the World Cup [trophy], we will be taking each match seriously. We will go game-to-game and focus on winning the tournament, not just one game.”
Haris Rauf
“Playing for your country at any big tournament is a source of pride. We are not too worried. We have been playing the ODI format for a while now. The conditions are not familiar [to us] but Asian conditions are usually similar throughout so it should be alright. We will be missing Naseem Shah a lot but Hasan Ali is a great bowler and we have played with him a lot so we have faith in him. We are hoping for a great comeback from him.”
“I do not control whether I take the new ball or not, but it doesn’t matter. We take the challenges as they come and perform the best way we can. It is not up to me to decide where I bowl in the game but whenever I get the ball, I will try to deliver. We perform well as a bowling unit. We have played big matches and you can look up the performances.”
“We do not have any preset plans and goals. You cannot go with personal goals as they do not help the team. We have to think about the team first, we will go there and assess the conditions and then decide our plans for the tournament.”
“We are envisioning ourselves in the final, semi-final is too short a goal. No matter who the semi-finalists or the finalists are, we want to see ourselves in the final, foremost. We have a lot of belief as a team. We know we are the best, and we have a lot of self-belief while playing together.”
