Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana© X (Twitter)
Pakistan captain Fatima Sana said her team will try to be calm and not take much pressure on themselves ahead of a crunch clash against India in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 on Sunday afternoon. Fatima was top-notch in her all-rounder roles – a knock of 30 and figures of 2-10 - in guiding Pakistan to a 31-run victory over Sri Lanka in their opening Group A game at Sharjah. With their confidence on a high, Pakistan will be aiming to make it back-to-back wins against an Indian team, who were consigned to a 58-run defeat by New Zealand.
“There is no such pressure. Because there will be a crowd and the atmosphere will be like this, there will be a little pressure on the girls. But we will try to be calm and not take much pressure. When we take pressure, it doesn't go in our favour. We will try to be calm and handle the situation as well as we can,” said Fatima in the pre-match press conference.
She also said Pakistan are keen to show their aggressive brand of cricket with the bat.
"I have been watching that whichever team we played against - played attacking cricket. As a bowler, I used to feel that whoever used to bowl against us, used to make to hit us from the first ball. I wanted our team to have batters who could punish the bowler from the first ball. We have worked a lot on this and you will see the result soon hopefully," said Fatima.
"If you look at the last series against South Africa, a lot of our girls have improved in power-hitting. I think the girls believe that even if the fielders are standing behind if they hit, they can go for six. It's a good thing that all the girls are confident in this. Personally, I used to bat a lot before, but I didn't know if I could hit or not. But with that belief now it's become a lot easier," she added.
Fatima's 20-ball 30 after coming in at Np.7 gave Pakistan's total a good push to reach 116, which proved to be decisive in them beating Sri Lanka. The win also made Fatima the second-youngest captain after Meg Lanning to win a Women's T20 World Cup match.
She signed off by elaborating on her ambitions to be a premier all-rounder and highlighted the influence of Pakistan's power-hitting coach in taking her batting skills to the next level. "I always wanted to be the number one all-rounder, because obviously bowling is a team sport but the team wins when you are good at it all, even when you are good in fielding."
"So that's why I was trying to prove myself always in helping the team win. So, I think that was the only challenge for me. That I should take my batting along. Our power-hitting coach has helped a lot of girls. I think all the credit goes to him because he has given us the belief that you can become an all-rounder."
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