‘Not fearful anymore’: Shadab confident ahead of India encounter in World Cup

Pakistan all-rounder, Shadab Khan, is rather confident about the national team's performance against India in the upcoming 2023 World Cup. He appreciated the impactful value that franchise cricket has added to the team.

The 24-year-old, while talking to a local sports channel, stressed the team's confidence and stated that, however, different formats bring different challenges; as long as the team is confident and ready to surpass any hurdle, they are good to go.

India and Pakistan have locked horns in seven matches in the 50-over World Cup, with India having a better head-to-head record over Pakistan, with all seven victories to its name.

When asked if Pakistan can break the losing streak against India in ODI World Cups, Shadab replied, "We will try our best, particularly given the kind of cricket we have been playing recently [in T20Is]. Now that we have played plenty of matches against each other, we have a fair idea about relevant strengths and weaknesses."

"But this is a different format; there would be different challenges to encounter, but we are hopeful because the bunch of players we have right now are super confident. These boys have played a lot of franchise cricket in the past few years, which has amplified their performance and confidence, which surely is a good sign, and results are panning out in the team's favour," he added.

The right-arm spinner emphasized that when a team lands on the ground with sheer confidence, it shows, and this is precisely what happened when they played against India in 2021 T20 World Cup in UAE.

"When we defeated India in the 2021 T20 World Cup, the team's confidence was touching the skies, and we were not fearful anymore - at least, this is what I felt. These are the learnings we take from league cricket and implement in high-pressure games such as against India," he further added.