As Pakistan and Canada compete in the T20 World Cup today, Canadian fast bowler Kaleem Sana aims to take wickets from Pakistani openers Babar Azam and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.
“As I play with the new ball, my targets will (obviously) be Rizwan and Babar,” Pakistan-born Sana said while speaking to Geographic news.
The Pakistani-Canadian bowler, who is also an old friend of Babar, has played cricket for several years in Pakistan alongside the captain up to under-19 level.
Pakistan will play an important match against Canada today at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York as their T20 World Cup journey remains on thin ice.
Pakistan needs to win its next two high-stakes group matches to remain in the tournament. Additionally, their World Cup chances are tied to the United States losing both of their matches against India and Ireland.
In their two previous World Cup matches, the Green Shirts suffered defeats against the United States and India.
Today, Pakistan will face Canada, who defeated Ireland by 12 runs, at 7:30 pm PST.
The Canadian bowler said his childhood friendship with the opponent's captain would definitely not be a hindrance in the competition and he would not be under pressure while bowling to the world number four batsman.
Sana said he had played with Pakistani players, so he had an idea of their strengths and weaknesses.
“When I was selected for the Pakistan U-19 team in 2009, I felt great. Even when I was under-19, my dream was to play for the Pakistan national team,” he explained.
The pacer said he played cricket with Babar for eight years from under-16 level and was selected for the under-19 World Cup team in 2010.
“Babar was in the rival team, while I played my last first-class match in Pakistan,” he said, adding that although he was born and raised in Pakistan, he was now a Canadian player.
To a question, Sana said that the support of his family and friends living in Pakistan would be divided in the match between Pakistan and Canada as his family members would support him but would like Pakistan to win the match.
Sana said that the Canadian team's morale was quite high and that they had prepared very well for the World Cup. They had devised a complete plan to defeat Pakistan, he said, believing that the opponents would be under pressure after losing two consecutive matches.
Revealing Canada's goal in the World Cup, Sana said his team had aimed to win two to three matches and his personal wish was to grab six to eight wickets in the mega tournament.
