'Once you step into the field, there is no-one bigger than you' - Aquib Ilyas - Cricket Winner

According to Aqib Illyas, this is a diktat laid down by his team’s head coach, former Sri Lankan captain Duleep Mendis. It aims to ensure that his players do not get overawed by the prospect of facing the high-profile Australian team in what will be the first meeting between the two countries at any level.

For he’s certainly not stepping back in the face of the biggest challenge in his country’s still nascent cricketing history.

It was one of the feistier press conferences you’d witness from the captain of an Associate nation. Feisty, not in terms of Illyas stirring up unreasonable expectations for his team, but in the genuine lack of veneration for his illustrious opponents.

“Our head coach has decided that we won’t even be mentioning the name of a single Australian player in our dressing-room as we prepare for the match.”

“Once you step on to the field there are no big names, there’s no one bigger than you on the field. It’s another game for us. And we don’t think we are going to play something extraordinary. It’s just a team on the same level as what we are doing. They have done the same as what we are doing – we have qualified, they have qualified, it doesn’t make much difference. We respect them of course,” he said.

Illyas isn’t the first captain of a non-Test playing nation to invoke the spirit of ‘they have more to lose than us.’ However, there was a charming ingenuity to the way the Sialkot-born star batter for Oman did it. His frank disregard for the norms of playing it cool was evident in his remarks, as he played down the significance of the occasion. You couldn’t help but support him, sensing that he genuinely meant every word about not letting the aura of Australia usurp his team’s motivation to compete before stepping onto the Oval.

“But every day is not the same day…”

Illyas is no stranger to facing real-life adversity by backing himself to the hilt. Playing a cricket match against the likes of Pat Cummins, David Warner, and Mitchell Marsh doesn’t even register as the biggest challenge he’s had to overcome. Diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in his left ankle a few years ago, he once feared both his cricket career and his life might be over. Thankfully, the tumour was benign, but surgery led to an 18-month rehab period spent entirely on crutches. Now, under two years later, he stands as the captain of his national team in a World Cup.

“You see how the ball was turning in the last match. The ball was staying low. With the Australian team, they used to have a few players with good techniques in the past like Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne. But I don’t think they have many now. They look to hit big. They only try to go for sixes. But every day is not the same day, and if we get the same wicket (as the one against Namibia) maybe it could be a problem for then,” he said to a mixture of amusement and astonishment in the press conference room.

“Just like the way you saw how difficult it was for the West Indies against PNG. They struggled to chase 130-odd despite them having some of the biggest hitters in the side. So ,you know on a slower track with good quality spinners, the only thing we need to do is play with a big heart and put the ball in the right areas, because the ball doesn’t know how big (he means in terms of status and reputation) the batter is. If it turns a bit or it stays low, the batter is in trouble.”

He concluded, “It depends how the game goes. It might happen that they might be taking our names. We respect them a lot as a team. But before the game, it’s tactical to not get overawed by them. After the game, of course there are great players in their side, and we can learn a lot from them. But maybe even they might be able to learn something from us.”

When asked about the magnitude of facing an Australian team with some of the biggest names in world cricket, Illyas didn’t hold back. He spoke candidly about how he wanted his players to approach the contest. While the names of the Australian players won’t be mentioned or discussed in the dressing room, Illyas talked about viewing the prospect of facing someone like Mitchell Starc as a chance to shine on the world stage rather than as a scary impediment to their success.

Illyas’s most telling statement about his mindset comes clearly

He discussed his perspective as captain facing this Australian team. If he were a captain from any of the Test nations, his comments might have led to headlines like ‘Shots fired as opposition captain takes a dig at Australian squad.’ Some might chuckle and dismiss his remarks as hyperbole from a captain desperate to show his team they have a chance.

The question was whether he thought Oman’s spin-heavy attack could pose a real threat to the Aussies if the pitch on Wednesday (June 5) was similar to the one his team lost to Namibia on. Illyas not only acknowledged that this could be a great leveller for his team but also revealed his take on the make-up of the Australian batting line-up, especially regarding who’s not around.

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Illyas saved his most memorable line for the end. When asked if the ban on using Australian players’ names in the Oman dressing-room would be lifted after the match and if the players would be keen to interact with the likes of Starc and Maxwell, the captain, sporting a smirk that turned into a smile, left a lasting impression.