Asia Cup 2023: "People Have Emotions Attached To The Game" - Hardik Pandya On India vs Pakistan Rivalry

Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya talked about India vs Pakistan rivalry. He said that there’s a lot of hype around the match but as a team, they need to make sure that they keep outside noise outside and take it as a normal game. 

India and Pakistan have always engaged in a high-voltage clash as tempers are always high when the two arch-rivals play against each other. It is one of the biggest rivalries in the cricketing world and their game gets even bigger as they don’t play against each other in the bilateral arrangements. 

India have had an upper hand over Pakistan in the World Cups and Asia Cups in the 21st century as they have won a majority of the games one-sided. But the new batch of the Pakistan team have been giving tough competition to the Indian team as they defeated them quite a few times.

In the last Asia Cup, which was played in a 20-over format, both the teams met two times and registered one win each. In ICC tournaments, Pakistan emerged victorious in the 2017 Champions Trophy Final and 2021 T20 World Cup whereas India thumped them in the 2019 World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup. 

The two teams will be up against each other in the Asia Cup 2023, which will be played from 30th August. They will play on 2nd September in Pallekele and there are high chances that they will meet in Super 4s as well. If they perform well in the knockout stage, we might see them playing in the final as well. India and Pakistan are also slated to lock horns with each other in the World Cup in Ahmedabad on 14th October. 

Hardik Pandya, who has played some blistering knocks against Pakistan, opened up about the game between two arch-rivals. Hardik Pandya said that he understands all the emotions attached to the match but for them, it’s a game at the end of the day. Speaking to Star Sports, Hardik Pandya explained: 

“It’s a game at the end of the day,  a lot of things are created. Its hype is there outside, which we all understand, a lot of people have emotions attached to the game. For us, we have to make sure that we keep the outside noise outside and make sure we can focus on the things, which we should be focusing.” 

Asia Cup 2023: I have always been a person who controls the things which I can control – Hardik Pandya 

Hardik Pandya while talking about how he approaches India vs Pakistan game, said that he tries to keep things simple and looks at the things which he can control. While elaborating on the same, Hardik Pandya said: 

“Looking at that, for me I have always been a person who controls the things which I can control and I think expectations and excitement I should be able to control on my own,  which I do and take this game as normal as possible but obviously as any game we play we want to win and the process never changes, the attitude never changes. We go there and put our 100% then see what will come next.” 

Here’s the Video:

.@hardikpandya7 believes that controlling your emotions & focusing on the game is important during #INDvPAK clashes!

Put your #HandsUpForIndia and tune-in to #INDvPAK on #AsiaCupOnstar
Sep 2 | 2.00 PM Onwards | Star Sports Network#Cricket pic.twitter.com/AIG1o4dtLR

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) August 11, 2023