Asian Games: ‘It’s facing a bowler or bowling to a batter,’ says Kanitkar

India batting coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar played down the hype surrounding Saturday’s Asian Games gold-medal clash against Pakistan, saying the team views it as another international game. He stressed the importance of staying focused, handling crucial moments and contributing to India’s medal tally

Nisshin: India stand on the brink of defending their Asian Games gold medal, but batting coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar has played down the hype surrounding their high-profile final against arch-rivals Pakistan, saying the team views the contest purely through a professional lens.

An India-Pakistan clash naturally commands massive attention, and that will be the case when the gold-medal match takes place at Korogi Sports Park on Saturday.

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“A lot of eyeballs will be there, but for the players, to be frank with you, it’s facing a bowler or bowling to a batter. So that’s what it comes down to, and that’s what professionals do, so that’s what we’ll be focused on,” Kanitkar told reporters on the eve of the match.

The former India batter, who famously hit the match-winning boundary against Pakistan in the 1998 Independence Cup final in Dhaka, dismissed suggestions that recent Indian results in other sports — a win over Pakistan in the men’s hockey semi-final and a defeat to them in the men’s volleyball quarter-final — would add extra pressure on his side.

“No, it doesn’t. Frankly, like I said earlier, international games, every match is pressure. So we need to be in our zone, we need to be at our best, and that’s what we focus on. So shutting out all the other noise is part of professional cricket or sport — that’s what we’ll look to do,” he said.

Having advanced to the title clash through a commanding semi-final win over Sri Lanka, Kanitkar said the squad remained in high spirits despite weather-disrupted training sessions.

“The team’s done well. We just got one game to play, and it was a good outing for the players, and we are confident; the team is confident. So our preparation has been good enough with the weather and everything. But still it’s been very good, so we are happy with the place we are in,” he said.

Rather than getting caught up in rivalry narratives, the Indian team is driven by the prospect of contributing to the country’s overall medal tally, Kanitkar said.

“It is extremely special because it goes into the medal tally for the country, and like the other Indian athletes, they work a lot to get that gold, silver, bronze, whatever it may be, and it’s not easy.

“So we are really looking forward to this game, really looking forward to doing very well and winning it so that it can add to the tally of the country’s medals and that’s really high on our list, and it will be a proud moment for us.”

Decisions regarding conditions and team composition will be finalised on Saturday morning after an inspection of the pitch.

“It looks okay; it was covered, so we’ll have to come tomorrow again and have a look at how it will play and then decide, bat or bowl, whatever. So it’s been covered today, so we’ll see tomorrow,” Kanitkar said.

Reflecting on his famous Dhaka heroics against Pakistan in 1998, when he hit the match-winning boundary to help India win the Silver Jubilee Independence Cup, Kanitkar said handling crucial moments remains paramount in big games.

“So it was more than 20 years ago, but I’ll take that. No, it’s very important — the moments are what matter in big games. Who wins those crucial moments? Our players have done it in the past at various levels, and we’re confident we’ll do it again. But to answer your question, it’s very important to win those crucial moments.”

“So this is one more international game that my team will be playing, and it’s for the Asian Games gold medal, so that’s the importance of the game. For international players, each and every game is important; everything is scrutinised, everything is closely watched. So I think it’s as important as all the other games we have been playing.”