"Very big deal" - Fakhar Zaman says defeat to India in 2023 World Cup hurt Pakistan's morale

Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman has revealed that the 2023 World Cup defeat to India hurt them psychologically. However, the left-hander also feels Pakistan rediscovered their rhythm against South Africa in Chennai, a game they narrowly lost by one wicket.

Zaman didn't play the 2023 World Cup match against India in Ahmedabad as he was dropped due to lack of form. However, he returned to form against Bangladesh on Monday, hitting a whirlwind 81 to help Pakistan arrest their losing streak.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Zaman said the defeat to India did make a difference to their mindset.

"Of course, an India and Pakistan match is a very big deal. If I say it doesn't make a difference, I would be wrong. But all the players are professional and have played a lot of cricket. Even against India, they have played a lot of matches. So, you can't say anything like that.

"But I think if you look at our rhythm, we have made a comeback in batting and in bowling – like if you see in our previous match against South Africa."

Pakistan suffered their eighth consecutive 50-over World Cup defeat to India at the packed Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Babar Azam and co. notably suffered a stunning batting collapse, allowing the hosts an easy win.

"We were looking to chase the target down in 28-29 overs" - Fakhar Zaman

Fakhar Zaman. (Image Credits: Twitter)

With Pakistan also having a low net run-rate, the veteran said he didn't proactively go for a century and wanted to get the required 205 runs against Bangladesh quickly. On this, the 33-year-old said:

"Because of the situation that we are in at the moment, we were looking to chase the target down in 28-29 overs, so I went hard. Otherwise it was very easy for me to get to the 100 but our goal was to chase it down quickly.

"Every win in the World Cup boosts the confidence and our aim is to win the remaining two matches. Our target is semi-final."

It was Shaheen Shah Afridi's outstanding figures of 9-1-23-3 that set up the game for Pakistan. The former World Cup winners still have three more matches to go.