Pakistani pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi opened up ahead of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 which is set to be played in India from October 5 across 10 different venues.
Afridi, 24, is considered the most dangerous bowler with the new ball as he has a record of dismantling batters with his new ball magic and the pacer is ready to do that again in the mega event.
Talking in a video released by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the left-arm pacer stated that this will be the team's (except Mohamamd Nawaz) first tour to the neighbouring country and they are hoping for familiar conditions.
"None of us have ever been to India except Mohammad Nawaz. We are hoping to have similar conditions in India, like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the UAE. We are hopeful it would be similar in terms of wickets," Afridi said.
"Yeah, it will be our first tour [to India], a new experience and a new place. We will do our best to play our best cricket."
The left-armer also shed light on India-Pakistan as it is arguably the biggest rivalry in the cricket world.
"The India-Pakistan rivalry has been going on for a long time, we want to create an impact. We have a great relationship with Indian cricketers, we enjoy our cricket. It is different on the field but we meet outside as friends, so we will try to carry that on as well," Afridi added.
It must be noted that the Green Shirts will take on India in the most-anticipated match of the World Cup on October 14 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmadabad in front of 132,000 spectators.
Pakistan squad for ICC World Cup 2023
Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, M Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha.
Travelling reserves: Mohammad Haris, Abrar Ahmed, Zaman Khan
Schedule of Pakistan's warm-up matches:
September 29 — vs New Zealand in Hyderabad
October 3 — vs Australia in Hyderabad
Here is Pakistan's schedule for the ICC World Cup 2023:
October 6 — vs Netherlands in Hyderabad
October 10 — vs Sri Lanka in Hyderabad
October 14 — vs India in Ahmedabad
October 20 — vs Australia in Bengaluru
October 23 — vs Afghanistan in Chennai
October 27 — vs South Africa in Chennai
October 31 — vs Bangladesh in Kolkata
November 4 — vs New Zealand Bengaluru (Day match)
November 11 - vs England in Kolkata
The day matches which will start at 10:00am Pakistan Standard Time (PST) while all other matches will be day-night fixtures starting at 01:30pm (PST).
If Pakistan qualify for the semi-finals, they will play in Kolkata.
If India qualify for the semi-finals, they will play in Mumbai unless playing against Pakistan, in which case they will play in Kolkata.
- Shaheen Afridi
