The USA captain Monank Patel has backed his team's fearless approach to continue their winning campaign in the T20 World Cup 2024 when they take on heavy-weight Pakistan and said his side is focusing on tackling experienced Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir and "great batter in all the formats" Babar Azam. The opening game's USA victory against Canada clearly shows how dangerous the hosts are. The way the hosts handled themselves, turning a seemingly hopeless situation into a convincing triumph, is typical of a confident team coming off of a thrilling 2-1 series victory over Bangladesh in the lead-up to the tournament.
Having played versus Canada at the same location, the USA has an additional advantage due to their relative familiarity with the setting.
Patel said the seven-wicket victory against Canada will boost their confidence when they take on Asian giant Pakistan at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Thursday. Meanwhile, the captain also stated that they will focus on tackling ace pacer Amir in the match, who made a surprise reversal to that retirement decision earlier this year.
"The first game definitely helped us. We got good momentum. We will make sure that we carry forward that momentum in the next game. Pakistan is a good side, is a well-experienced side and we will make sure that we play the cricket we have been playing. Pakistan has good experienced bowlers. We will focus on Mohammad Amir, who is an experienced Pakistani bowler, we will try to tackle him well," Patel said in a pre-match press conference.
Pakistan captain Babar made his name in all formats of cricket but he stood out the most in T20Is as the star batter has 4023 runs to his name in the 112 innings. Notably, Pakistan and the USA have never faced each other in the shortest format of cricket and it will be the first time the two sides will play T20I.
Patel said Pakistan captain Babar's wicket will be "important" for his side as the 29-year-old player's stats in the short format highlight his dominance in the T20Is.
"Babar is a great batsman in all the formats. He is the main player and he is the captain. If he plays long innings, we have seen in the past also. So yeah, his wicket will be really important for us and we all know his stats. He's been very consistent in T20s," he added.
The USA captain stated that as his side is not focused much on Men in Green but on their own cricket and added once they found good ground in the match 30-40 minutes on the field they can "take the game away."
"I mean, we won't focus much on the Pakistan side. We want to focus on our own cricket. And we want to make sure that we continue playing the way we've been playing. And you know, it's T20. Once we have good 30-40 minutes on the field, you never know. We can take the game away," he added.
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