- By Himanshu Badola
- Sat, 20 Sep 2025 11:24 PM (IST)
- Source:PTI
India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2025: Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday visited the National team's nets to interact with the squad and boost morale ahead of the high-pressure Super 4s Asia Cup encounter against India.
Parallelly, the PCB has also engaged motivational speaker Dr Raheel Ahmed in a bid to reduce the stress levels of the players before Sunday's crunch tie.
It has been talked about that several youngsters in the Pakistan squad have been struggling to cope with the intense psychological pressure of facing a star-studded Indian line-up. Dr Ahmed has already held one-on-one sessions with some of them to identify the root causes of mental lapses in pressure situations.
As per a report in the PTI, Dr Ahmed joined the contingent after the completion of Pakistan's group league matches and has since been working closely with the support staff.
In another unusual move, Pakistan also cancelled their customary pre-match press conference for the second game in a row, fuelling speculation about the tense atmosphere within the camp.
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The India vs Pakistan match will be played amid the ongoing controversy that erupted after the Men in Blue refused the customary post-match handshake. The Pakistan Cricket Board came out with the threat to pull out of the tournament and made allegations against the match referee, Andy Pycroft, for dealing with the whole situation horribly.
India have been the strongest side in the tournament so far and have been in remarkable form with wins in all three group A matches.
And ahead of the match, India captain Suryakumar Yadav has revealed how they keep themselves away from the outside noise.
"Close your room, switch off your phone and sleep, I think that's the best. It's easy to say but sometimes it is difficult because you meet a lot of friends, you go out for dinner and you have a lot of players also around who like to see all these things so it's very difficult but then it's on you, what you want to listen to, what you want to have in your mind," Surya said at the pre-match press conference.
"I have been very clear with all the boys. I think it's very important if you want to do well in this tournament and going forward, we will have to shut out a lot of noise from outside and take what is good for you. I mean, someone can give you good advice as well, which can help you in the game, which can help you on the ground, so I think that is very important for me, and the rest I feel everyone is good in a good space," he added.