Colombo, February 11 Pakistan batsman Sahibzada Farhan has downplayed the hype surrounding Sunday's T20 World Cup clash against their arch-rivals India, calling it a "normal match," although his team's mindset will be "different" from previous games.
Pakistan are currently at the top of Group A, having won back-to-back matches against the Netherlands and the USA. Although the victory against the Dutch team was narrow, Pakistan looked very assured in their 32-run triumph over the Americans last night, in which Farhan smashed a 73 off 41 balls, earning him the well-deserved title of Player of the Match.
During the post-match media briefing, the opener fielded questions about the game against India, which is finally taking place after his government withdrew its call for a boycott.
"See, when you win two matches and are at the top of the table, you feel confident. The upcoming match is not such a big deal; we are not playing against them for the first time," he responded when asked about the team's mindset.
"We have played before, and this time we will play with a different mindset. You have seen us… you must have seen that Shadab (Khan) is scoring runs, and (Mohammad) Nawaz is also scoring runs. So hopefully you will enjoy our game against them," he said.
"It's a normal match. We will play like a normal match. We will not put it in our heads that this is an India-Pakistan match; it is a normal match, and we will play it like a normal match," he added.
The India-Pakistan tensions, which flared up after the horrific Pahalgam terror attack in 2025, have also spilled onto the cricket field. The two sides played tense games during the Asia Cup, all of which were won by India, including the final.
India T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav had stated that, given his team's dominance in recent years, he no longer considered the rivalry against Pakistan to be evenly matched.
Farhan disagreed with this assessment.
"No, I think the way we played in the last Asia Cup, we didn't play a one-sided game. We played and fought till the end. We didn't play a one-sided game until then, and hopefully this time we will play a wonderful game," he asserted.
On whether he has any specific plans in place to tackle India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Farhan said, "I think when you are scoring runs, you are confident. I am also very confident, and the way the last two innings have gone, I am very confident."
