DUBAI: Pakistan all-rounder Ayesha Zafar says that the team is working on all three departments of the game and will “put up a good show” against archrivals India in their Women’s Asia Cup match on Saturday.
“Yes, it is India vs Pakistan, but this is just another match. We are trying to take the matches day by day,” said Ayesha, when asked how Pakistan were preparing for the group clash of the event.
She was speaking to media in Dubai, where the continental event is taking place, on Thursday.
“It is our second match, so we are hoping to put up a good show and go towards winning it.”
Pakistan notched a compact 35-run victory against Thailand for their opening Asia Cup match, with an early batting powerplay stutter being remedied by a stable half-century by Muneeba Ali and a disciplined show from the bowlers.
“We cannot specifically focus on one thing, overall we have focused on all three,” she said, when asked about which facet the team was most focused on in the lead-up to the coming matches.
She expressed confidence in Pakistan’s spin attack, which played a main role in the team’s first win, “given the fact that these are spinning wickets, and we have world-class spinners available”.
“Fielding has been one of the factors on which we have been putting in a lot of work. Our mentor also said we cannot compromise on fielding, because it is something that can win you matches,” she added.
“I think the result in cricket matters a lot depending on the type of pitch made and the conditions on the day,” she said, when asked to evaluate Pakistan’s first-innings score of 119 in the first match against Smriti Mandhana of India playing a knock of 120-odd alone, and whether it indicates a significant difference in the planning and preparations between both the teams.
Mandhana made a blistering 124 in 64 balls during India’s dismantling of Hong Kong on Thursday, which led the team to setting a target of 194 before eventually bowling out Hong Kong on 56 to secure a mammoth 137-run win.
“I think 120 was a winning total on that pitch that day, and in the end what matters is that we won,” said Ayesha, adding that Pakistan took their “learnings from that day”, and that it was possible that the pitch was “playing a little better today” to assist India in putting up the highest score of the tournament thus far.
“We are fully prepared and will try our best to win.
“Obviously, we have strategised for India,” she said, adding that the Green Shirts have prepared how to tackle the arch rivals “player by player,” and that they will apply those strategies on Saturday.
Speaking about the hot and humid conditions of Dubai, Ayesha said that they were definitely “a challenge, and not just for us but for all the other teams as well.”
“But as we see, some good matches are happening so we are going to take this as a challenge and try and overcome it, and play good cricket.”
Pakistan’s last encounter against India in the T20 World Cup in June resulted in a heavy 64-run defeat for the former.
Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2026
