Muneeba Ali says Pakistan’s comeback win over Thailand has strengthened the team’s confidence ahead of Saturday’s high-profile clash with India.

COLOMBO: Pakistan will take renewed confidence into their much-anticipated Asia Cup clash with India on Saturday after overcoming early setbacks against Thailand, with Muneeba Ali saying belief has become a key part of the team’s mindset.

Pakistan lost several early wickets in their Asia Cup opener against Thailand but recovered to post a defendable total before their bowlers restricted the opposition to 84 for 8 in 20 overs.

Muneeba said the turnaround was driven by the team’s belief rather than a change in fortune.

“When wickets kept falling in the powerplay, we knew if we got a good partnership and kept on scoring runs, it would put the bowlers under pressure and give us opportunities to score,” she said during the post-match press conference.

“That’s what my strategy was.”

Pakistan address batting concerns

Muneeba acknowledged that Pakistan’s top-order batting had struggled during their recent T20I series but said the team had worked on those weaknesses during training camps.

“In the last few T20 series we played before Sri Lanka, our batting unit did not click as such and we had our struggles,” she said.

“We have been working on those issues in camps, to make sure we don’t repeat the same mistakes, and bring in some different options in our batting.”

She said the biggest difference against Thailand was the team’s ability to remain composed after losing wickets and focus on building a competitive total.

“Today the difference was that even when we lost wickets, the team kept belief and tried setting a total which would be defendable against the opposition on this pitch,” Muneeba added.

Pakistan bowlers maintain their composure

Pakistan’s bowling unit backed up the batters’ efforts with a disciplined performance.

Nashra Sandhu conceded only six runs in her four overs, while Tuba Hassan claimed two wickets for 17 runs.

Nashra said she focused on bowling in the right areas after assessing the conditions.

“I knew there was bounce and turn in the pitch, and that it was keeping low. I just had to bowl at the right spots, the pitch did the rest,” she said.

Tuba said her approach was to attack the stumps while regularly varying her pace.

“My plan was simple; bowl wicket-to-wicket and vary the pace as much as possible, because we also need to prepare for the next match,” she said.

She added that Pakistan needed to learn from their mistakes and continue improving as the tournament progressed.

“These are exactly the things we need to learn from, so that we can make less mistakes in the next matches and play better,” Tuba said.

Pakistan face India in crucial Asia Cup clash

Pakistan will now look to carry the confidence and resilience shown against Thailand into their next challenge — a high-profile Asia Cup encounter against India on Saturday.

The match will provide Pakistan with a major test against one of the tournament’s strongest sides, with the team hoping that the belief shown in their opening game can translate into another strong performance.