Arch-rivals India and Pakistan face each other in the Super 12 stage of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai on October 24.
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India will take on Pakistan in the Super 12 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 at Dubai International Stadium on October 24. Both teams have faced each other on 12 occasions in a World Cup match across the ODI and T20 format and Pakistan have never got the better of India. It’s a statistic every Indian fan would be really proud of. Former World Cup winning cricketer Madan Lal has opined that the pressure would be on Pakistan despite having a balanced squad. However, the 70-year-old has cautioned the Indian team that Babar Azam led team shouldn’t be taken lightly.
“Pakistan have a lot more pressure because they haven’t won against India (in World Cup matches). If you see around their country, there is public pressure. If they lose, a lot of things start happening. That’s not fair,” Madan told Outlook.
“They (Pakistan) are a good side. We should not take them lightly. They have Babar, Fakhar, Rizwan, and quite a few all-rounders who can hit the ball.
“Then there are experienced Shoaib Malik and (Mohammad) Hafeez. They have a good bowling attack in (Shaheen Shah) Afridi and Hasan Ali along with left-arm spinner Imad (Wasim) and leggie Shadab (Khan).”
India and Pakistan face each other only in the ICC tournaments and a cricket clash between the arch-rivals becomes one of the most exciting prospects to look forward to. Both teams are placed in Group 2 along with Afghanistan, New Zealand, Namibia and Scotland.
The 1983 World Cup winner added one cannot predict how the match would turn out in the shortest format of the cricket. However the former all-rounder observed that the team which handles the pressure situations better will come out on top.
“Everything depends on how you control the game at the crucial point. Pressure gets on to you in the critical stage when you have to say chase 20 runs in the last two overs. You have to handle such kind of pressure where the game turns around.”
“We (India) don’t have pressure because at the end of the day it is a game. In the T20 format anything can happen. It is difficult to predict. Every ball, every wicket, every run you know the game can change in two or three overs.”
Madan Lal has added that Ravindra Jadeja is one the best all-rounders in world ricket and he has improved a lot in the last few years, especially since the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
“2017 is a long time back now. You can’t say Fakhar will punish Jadeja again. Jadeja has developed and become one of the best all-rounders in the world. He has been bowling regularly over the years now in all formats. He is not mucking with the bowling. Indian team needs him and he is very clever He is a go-to bowler to pick wickets if anything happens.”
Meanwhile the Amritsar- born cricketer feels India should play leg spinner Varun Chakravarthy ahead of veteran Ravichandran Ashwin. Although Ashwin is a world class spinner, Varun offers variety, which was missing during India’s Champions Troup final loss to Pakistan in 2017.
“There is a debate between Varun and Ashwin. Ashwin is undoubtedly a world-class bowler but Varun gives you something different. India has not played Varun against Pakistan before. He gives you a lot of variety in his bowling. India should play Varun instead of Ashwin.”
“Indians are more or less settled. Hardik is not bowling. India will play with five bowlers. Varun and Jadeja will be the key with three fast bowlers Bumrah, (Mohammed) Shami, and Shardul or Bhuvneshwar. Bhuvneshwar is an experienced bowler but I feel Shardul should be picked as he is an all-rounder.”
“They will go with six batters, including Hardik as a pure batter. There is a tie between Ishan and Suryakumar. They might go with Suryakumar. But if they plan to have a left-right combination then only they might pick Ishan. At the moment they must be thinking about Suryakumar.”
