‘I don’t believe in counting my chickens…’ – Rahul Dravid gives epic response on India vs Pakistan clash in Asia Cup 2023

India will kick off their campaign against Pakistan on September 2 in their first match of the highly-anticipated Asia Cup 2023. There could possibly be three clashes between them during the tournament if the two teams progress to the Super 4s and the final. In Group A, the countries are Pakistan, India, and Nepal, whereas, in Group B, there are Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The other five countries, with the exception of Nepal, have qualified for the ODI World Cup in India, which commences in October.

On the same note, India head coach Rahul Dravid highlighted the buzz around potential matches with Pakistan. However, the former India cricketer pointed out the plan he has for the competition, which involves playing each game “one step at a time.” “The schedule is out. You have to qualify for the Super Fours to play Pakistan three times. One step at a time, I don’t believe in counting my chickens too much,” Dravid told reporters in a video posted by the Indian Cricket Board ahead of the second Test against the West Indies.

We certainly want to play right up to the final and win it: Dravid

In addition, Dravid is confident about India facing Pakistan three times in the upcoming Asia Cup. He further assessed that if the Men in Blue were to advance to the Super 4s round, they would have three more matchups against arch-rivals. Later, the former India skipper also said they aim to win the Asia Cup.

“I know we are going to play Pakistan and Nepal in the first two games, so we need to focus on that. We need to win those games and see where the tournament goes. If we get the opportunity to play them three times, it’s fantastic. That would mean we reach the final of the tournament and hopefully, Pakistan do too. It would be a great contest, and we certainly want to play right up to the final and win it. But we need to take the first two steps to do that,” he added further.

Meanwhile, in 2022, the Rohit Sharma-led side was unable to qualify for the finals due to back-to-back losses against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Super 4s.