Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed believes his side will “have nothing to lose” when the Champions Trophy one-day international tournament in England and Wales gets underway next week.
Despite completing series wins in all formats during their recent tour of the West Indies, Pakistan have not been spoken of as one of the favourites to win the tournament, which features the world’s top eight ODI teams.
Pakistan begin their campaign against arch-rivals India at Edgbaston on June 4 in arguably the match of the tournament, with South Africa and Sri Lanka their other two opponents in the group stage.
But an undaunted Sarfraz told reporters at Edgbaston on Friday: “We have nothing to lose, we just want to play our natural game. We are very hopeful of playing well in this tournament and we want to win it.”
The wicket-keeper/batsman added: “Against the West Indies, we had a big fielding improvement.
“We don´t see us as having a surprise element, we want to come here and play free cricket, starting against India.
“This is my first major tournament as captain, I´m definitely very hopeful and excited about the competition.
“My aim is to play my own game, to not play under pressure and to just play as I do in domestic cricket.”
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