Canada pacer Kaleem Sana is eyeing to take the wicket of his former friend Babar Azam in their upcoming Group A clash against Pakistan in the ongoing T20 World Cup at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Kaleem, who hails from Pakistan, is a friend of Babar, and he has played cricket in the nation for seven years along with the current Men in Green captain till Under-19.
Ahead of meeting his old friend, Sana expressed his desire to take the wickets of Pakistan opening duo, Babar and Mohammad Rizwan.
“Since I bowl with the new ball, so my targets will (obviously) be Rizwan and Babar,” said Pakistan-born Sana while speaking with Geo News.
It will be a crucial clash for the Babar-led side as they look to keep their hopes of sealing a spot in the Super 8 alive.
Pakistan suffered two consecutive defeats in their opening games. They endured a staggering defeat in their campaign opener against the co-hosts USA in Dallas.
Tipped to reach the final four stage by former cricketers, Pakistan managed to put 159/7 on the board.
In reply, the USA managed to take the game into the Super Over after Nitish Kumar found the fence on the final ball.
In the Super Over, Mohammad Amir conceded 18 runs. The majority of the runs came from the extras that he bowled. While chasing the total, Pakistan folded on 13/1 and suffered a five-run defeat.
On Sunday in New York, Pakistan stood in pole position to end the unbeaten run of their bitter rival India in the competition.
Riding high on Naseem Shah’s pace blitz, Pakistan restricted the Rohit Sharma-led team to 119 but failed to score six runs per over. They folded on 113/7 and endured a six-run defeat following a sensational attack led by Jasprit Bumrah.
If Pakistan ends up losing against Canada, their run in the T20 World Cup will end in the group stage.
Pakistan T20 WC squad: Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan.
Canada: Saad Bin Zafar (c), Aaron Johnson, Ravinderpal Singh, Navneet Dhaliwal, Kaleem Sana, Dilon Heyliger, Jeremy Gordon, Nikhil Dutta, Pargat Singh, Nicholas Kirton, Rayyankhan Pathan, Junaid Siddiqui, Dilpreet Bajwa, Shreyas Movva, Rishiv Joshi.(ANI)