By IANS,
Mohali: Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez Saturday said past records won’t matter when they face arch-rivals India in the cricket World Cup semi-final here March 30.
Pakistan have been beaten by India in all their four World Cup encounters and their last defeat came in the Super Six stages of the 2003 edition in South Africa.
Hafeez revealed that the team will be adopting ‘the simple strategy’ for the crunch game, something they have been following since the last six months.
“The past is history for us. If you look at it even Australia had not been defeated by anyone for several years in the World Cup before they lost to us and India. We are not thinking about what happened in the past, but looking to perform on the given day,” said Hafeez after a training session at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium here.
When asked about the pressure of playing India, he said: “I don’t think there is any extra pressure in playing against India. We have been following a simple strategy since the last six months and that is to put our best performance on the day and don’t think about the past.
“We just think about that particular day, and try and win that particular match. So I don’t think we will be under any extra pressure.”
Pakistan’s bowling has been the most impressive in the tournament and Hafeez said the team will be relying heavily on the bowlers to win against a powerful batting side like India.
“Bowling is our major strength and we are heavily relying on our bowlers. At the same time, our batsmen complement our attack,” he said.