All 10 captains of the participating teams were present for a special media event in Ahmedabad on Wednesday ahead of the ICC World Cup opener which will be played between England and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium on October 5.
Pakistan’s Babar Azam, India’s Rohit Sharma, England’s Jos Buttler, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and Australia’s Pat Cummins were present at the Captain’s Day event along with names like Temba Bavuma, Dasun Shanaka and others.
Azam, who sat next to Buttler, was asked several questions by the journalists and the 28-year-old replied to all of them as he discussed his side’s preparations.
“We were welcomed nicely in India,” Azam said. “The hospitality in India has been excellent, we feel like we are at home.
“We [this group of players] have been playing together for the last three years, our strength is our bowling. We will give our 100% and we are working hard for it every day. There will be no pressure of playing in India, the conditions are similar to Pakistan.”
The 28-year-old also stated that the team is feeling good in Hyderabad but it would have been better if Pakistani fans were there.
“We are enjoying in Hyderabad. It feels good to be here [In India] but it could have been a lot better if our fans were here,” he added.
Hyderabadi Biryani has been a hot topic among Pakistani cricketers and Indian journalists ever since Shadab Khan sarcastically stated that the Men in Green fielded poorly against Australia in their warm-up match because they had eaten a lot of Biryani.
Babar was asked the same question by Ravi Shastri, who was hosting the event, to which he replied: “We heard so much about Hyderabad’s biryani, it was good.”
The 2019 World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan was also invited to the stage where he backed Buttler saying that he is a great skipper.
Rohit was overwhelmed by the opportunity to lead his country in a mega event and said: “I feel fortunate that I will captain the Indian team in the World Cup. I am not thinking about the past where the home side won the tournament.”
Cummins was also asked to share his side’s preparations to which he said: “ODI format suits Australia more, we have won before and we will try to continue our form.”
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan stated that we will try to fulfil our fans’ expectations as the team is prepared.
Meanwhile, Williamson, who will not feature in the Black Caps’ tournament opener as he continues to recover from a knee injury, stated that he is geared up to lead his side in the mega event once again.
