The United States of America (USA) captain Monank Patel revealed that he will be targeting two Pakistani players in their upcoming clash of the T20 World Cup 2024 which is set to be played at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas, on Thursday.
The USA began their T20 World Cup campaign with an emphatic win over Canada where they chased down the 195-run target in just 17.4 overs with Aaron Jones starring for the home side.
The confidence in the USA camp is high and their captain will once again bank on his team’s ability to play aggressive cricket. Furthermore, they will also target two of Pakistan’s experienced players, pacer Mohammad Amir and captain Babar Azam.
Azam, without a shadow of a doubt, is one of the best players in the world and Amir recently returned to international cricket and boasts a brilliant record in ICC events.
Talking ahead of their match against Pakistan, Patel expressed that his side is in good momentum which they gained after beating Canada. He also praised the Pakistani side and revealed that they will be targeting Amir and Babar.
"The first game definitely helped us. We got good momentum. We will make sure that we carry forward that momentum in the next game,” Patel said in a pre-match presser.
“Pakistan is a good side, is a well-experienced side and we will make sure that we play the cricket we have been playing. 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 then talked about the importance of removing Babar early as he is Pakistan’s main batter and is the captain, so his wicket would be crucial.
"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," he said.
"I mean, we won't focus much on the Pakistan side. We want to focus on our own 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 good 30-40 minutes on the field, you never know. We can take the game away," he concluded.
