Pakistan batter Sahibzada Farhan has said his team is confident that it would face “India again in the final” of the men’s Asia Cup next Sunday.
India romped home on Sunday with a six-wicket win, chasing down the 172-run target with ease in their second high-intensity encounter against Pakistan in the tournament.
Pakistan rode on a brilliant 45-ball 58 from opener Sahibzada Farhan but managed 171-5 after romping to 93-1 in 9.3 overs.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Monday, before Pakistan clash with Sri Lanka tomorrow, the opener said: “We are confident that we will face India again in the final (of the Asia Cup).”
Speaking about his celebration after he scored his half-century against India, he said: “I hardly celebrate after a 50. It was a spontaneous thought to celebrate that way — I don’t care for what people are making of it.”
He added that Fakhar’s role from the other end gave him confidence to play his shots.
In Pakistan’s last match against India, the bitterness between the two sides — which started with India’s refusal of customary handshakes in the first encounter — had continued as Abhishek Sharma at the post-match ceremony said: “Today (Sunday) it was very simple, the way they (Pakistan) were coming (at) us for no reason, I didn’t like it at all, and this is the only way I could give [an answer] with my bat.”
Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha, speaking after the match, had said, “We are yet to play the perfect game. We batted really well — but I think when it came to the bowling, they took the game away in the powerplay.”
Earlier, Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka by four wickets in their match in Dubai on Saturday.
The top two teams from Super Four will play the Asia Cup final in Dubai on September 28.
