‘Dont Be Friendly’: Moin Khan Urges Pakistan Players Ahead Of Champions Trophy-OxBig News Network

Former Pakistan cricketer Moin Khan spoke on the camaraderie of India and Pakistan players and referred to it as ‘unfathomable’ ahead of the upcoming match between both teams. The arch-rivals India and Pakistan are set to lock horns with each other on February 23 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Fans are excited to witness a thrilling encounter between India and Pakistan as both nations play against each other only in the ICC events.

“I just don’t get it when I watch Pakistan and India matches these days, as Indian players come into the crease our players check their bats, pat them, have a friendly talk. Nowadays, our players’ behaviour when playing against India is unfathomable to me. Even off the field as professionals you have to have certain boundaries,” said the former player during a podcast hosted by actor Ushna Shah.

“Our seniors always told us that when playing against India give no quarter and no need to even talk to them on the field. When you get friendly, they see it as a sign of weakness. I think our players don’t understand this but being too friendly is seen as a sign of weakness on the field and you automatically come under pressure in your performances,” he added.

Pakistan has a bit of an edge over the Indian team as they have outplayed the Men in Blue thrice out of five matches of the Champions Trophy. During the 2017 edition, Pakistan defeated India by a massive margin of 180 runs at the Oval in England.

India squad for Champions Trophy 2025: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja.