“All fears of losing should be banished from the mind as the mind can only process one thought at a time. Fear of losing leads to a negative & defensive strategy & crucially mistakes by opponents are not pounced upon. So here are my suggestions for Sarfaraz & Pakistan team,” the 66-year-old cricketing legend said in a series of tweets.
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Pakistan has never won a match against India in ICC Cricket World Cups. Given the intensity of the match, both teams will come under great mental pressure and the power of the mind will decide the outcome of the match today, he said.
The match is being played by the two neighbours after the recent tensions between them after the Pulwama terror attack. “In Sarfaraz we are fortunate to have a bold captain & today he will have to be at his daring best.
“In order ro have a winning offensive strategy Sarfaraz must go in with specialist batsmen and bowlers because “Raillu Kattas” rarely perform under pressure – especially the intense kind that will be generated today. 2. Unless pitch is damp, (captain) Sarfaraz (Ahmed) must win the toss & bat,” he said. However, the Pakistani captain won the toss and chose to bowl, contrary to Khan’s suggestion to bat first.
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Highlighting the importance of mind, Khan, who is also known as ‘Kaptaan’ in Pakistan said: “When I started my cricketing career I assumed success was 70% talent & 30% mind. By the time I finished playing cricket I felt it was 50-50 ratio. But now I tend to agree with my friend (Sunil) Gavaskar it’s 60% mental strength & 40 % talent. Today role of mind will be more than 60%”.
The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is being hosted by England and Wales from May 30 to July 14. Pakistan won the championship in 1992 under the captaincy of Khan while India has won it twice — 1983 and 2011.