We play with more passion than India: Ijaz Ahmed

LAHORE (Monitoring Desk): Pakistan’s Under19 (U19) coach Ijaz Ahmed has claimed that players in Pakistan play with more passion than their counterparts in India on the heels of the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) U19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa.

Ahmed cited Pakistan’s recent win against India in the semi-finals of the Asian Emerging Nations Cup while claiming that the Men in Green would have an edge over their neighbours in the tournament.

“India has a very good cricket system and it is organized but I know that we have more passion than them when we play against each other and that is how we also beat them in the semi-finals of the recent Asian Emerging Nations Cup,” Ejaz said as quoted by India Today.

The U19 coach was hopeful that the passion exhibited by the players of Pakistan would result in great performances in the upcoming tournament. “Even in the past, we beat India because of our greater passion and this time also I know the passion of our players will prevail over them although they have a very strong outfit,” he said.

“It is the same in the World Cup it does not matter which team is number one or defending champions what will matter is how a team plays on a given day. I personally feel our team is well balanced.”

Ahmed expressed his satisfaction at the team’s preparation for the challenge of facing the best in the world.

“Our players have also trained hard in Lahore and we have played around 11 matches. We will also reach South Africa nine days before the World Cup and we have some practice games and I think our preparations are also very good for the tournament,” he concluded. The tournament is scheduled to start on January 17.