Babar Azam, Captain of the Pakistani cricket team, said on Thursday that they would like to start their T20 World Cup campaign with a win against arch-rivals India.

Pakistan and India will lock horns on October 24 in Dubai. Babar feels that India will be under more pressure than Pakistan when the two sides meet in their tournament opener.

“India will be under more pressure, as compared to Pakistan, during the T20 World Cup match as they have not played T20 cricket as a group for quite a while. India are currently playing Test cricket and after that, they will get busy with franchise cricket. The UAE is like our home ground and we will try to give our 100 percent on the field,” Babar said after a meeting with Ramiz Raja, the Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman in waiting.

India have had the upper hand over Pakistan in ICC events. Even though India got beaten in the Champions Trophy final of 2017, they are still unbeaten in the 50-over World Cup.

Pakistan also announced their squad for the ODI series against New Zealand recently. As many as four pacers — Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Wasim, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Zahid Mahmood — received their maiden call-ups. Babar also opened up about the discussions he had with Ramiz Raja ahead of the series.

“He shared his mindset with us and we would carry that forward. We have picked a balanced squad for New Zealand ODIs. We are facing issues in the middle-order and this series is a good opportunity for players making a comeback to cement their place in the side. There is no pressure of captaincy on me,” Babar added.

Babar himself is going to be a key player for Pakistan in the upcoming T20 World Cup. He has been seen in very good form recently and ended up as the highest run-getter in the PSL 2021 season as well. As far as his T20I record goes, he has 2204 runs to his name at 46.89, including one century and 20 fifties.