Pakistan captain Babar Azam shared that they will not take the USA lightly when the two teams meet in Dallas in a Group A clash of the T20 World Cup on Thursday, June 6 as well. Pakistan will start their campaign with doubts surrounding their form and team combination as well. On the other hand, the USA are high on confidence after having won over Canada in the tournament opener at the same venue on June 2 as well.

“It will be a proud moment and a big occasion for the USA when they play a former champion on Thursday. After beating Bangladesh 2-1 and then Canada in the tournament opener, they have demonstrated they deserve to be here, which is excellent news for cricket promotion and development in the region. We will give them the respect they deserve without being complacent,” Babar Azam said in a statement from the Pakistan Cricket Board.

He also highlighted that the USA will be well aware of the conditions at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, having played their home games at the venue also. Meanwhile, the USA were clinical in their opening-day win over Canada. Despite conceding 194, the USA kept their calm and won the game on the back of Aaron James’s sensational 94 not out as well.

“All 20 teams are here believing they can win the tournament. As such, it is going to be an exciting but extremely challenging and testing tournament, and that’s the beauty of world championships,” Babar Azam concluded. “We will follow the horses-for-courses policy in team selections as the conditions in the USA will be new and a couple of opponents we have not played before. In modern-day cricket, the concept and importance of floating players has become more critical than ever before and our players are aware of this as well as their roles and responsibilities.”