Our pace attack reminds me of our troika in the 90s: Aaqib Javed

DUBAI: This is like the good old days of India-Pakistan rivalry. Going into their crucial ICC Champions Trophy Group A clash on Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium here, India are banking on spinners-there is talk that they may even play a fourth spinner in Varun Chakravarthy-Pakistan are hedging on their pacer troika of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Harris Rauf to do the damage for them.
On the eve of the match, Pakistan's interim head coach Aaqib Javed, showering praise on his team's present-day fast bowling trio, even compared this attack to the famous trio of the 90s of which he himself was a part of-the two famous Ws-Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis spearheading it.
"I have heard that a lot of options and discussions going on. Other teams have too many spinners and we have lesser spin options. Teams play their game on their own strength. We have one of the best pace bowling options in today's game with Shaheen, Naseem, and Haris. It reminds me of the 90's. They still have time to reach that level, but they have all the ability to repeat those kind of performances. So I'm pretty much confident (about our pace attack). When you play against India, it's a special feeling and I think they will bring something very special tomorrow," Aaqib said.
The Pakistan head coach was clear in his mind that while India were keen to play three-four spinners, Pakistan would rely on their traditional strength-pace bowling-to win the battle on Sunday. "That (playing three-four spinners) is their plan. We have to play our cricket on our own strength. Our team will not see any major changes. We have selected a team based on our beliefs. We will back this team. Our fast-bowling options are the best. These are the match winners. It's not necessary to follow the same strategy as the other teams. And these are match winners, so it is not necessary that the other team should do the same," Aaqib asserted.
Defending his pacers, who've leaked runs on the flat pitches in Pakistan, the team's head coach said, "You focus on the whole match. If your average score there (in Pakistan) is 320 to 350, then you focus on one or two bowlers. How did they give more than 60 or 70? At times you don't get such (helpful) conditions. Everyone (amongst the Pakistan quicks) is now realising that they need to improve their fitness levels. But I don't think if you concede 80 in one match (it's an issue). It is not 90's cricket, when, if we used to give 60, we would not be able to sleep for six months.. Now this game is fast, if we make 350 runs, then it's possible that you give away 70-80 runs. But, the game tomorrow will be different. We cannot see that he has given 80 runs, now what to do with him. Every game starts differently and finishes differently," Aaqib analysed.
He stressed that even though Pakistan were in a must-win situation after losing their first match, they were not feeling the heat, and were ready to embrace the pressure of playing against arch-rivals India, something that he and his teammates would do in their playing days.
"Right now, we are all guessing what will happen in this match. This is the beauty of it, what will happen. Nobody knows anything. So, in the same way, taking pressure is the job of the players. If you remove this pressure, what's left in an Pakistan-India game? Passion and pressure is what is needed to show a player his performance," he said.
Explaining his point, Aaqib said, "Look, there is no game you can say you play without pressure. The first game we lost, okay. New Zealand is a very strong team. They have good balance and it doesn't make any difference. After losing a game there is another good chance for you to win and win the third one and make it to the semis. Again India and Pakistan doesn't matter. It's a knockout or whatever. It's beyond a game and that's the beauty of India-Pakistan cricket. And if you look at the positive, I think that is the best time and best chance for any individual or a team to make a mark. We used to love it and all the players are waiting for the opportunity to rise and rise above the bar," the 52-year-old said.