The wait is over. We're heading into the most exciting, fascinating and of course the biggest event of this tournament, Yes it is India vs Pakistan.
Overview:
India have been clearly dominant over Pakistan as they have trounced Pakistan in all the 5 encounters they faced in T20 World Cups and it is indeed a formidable record. While India could boast with their history against Pakistan, Pakistan too have been one of the best sides in T20I cricket currently. India currently stand at 2nd in the ICC rankings whereas Pakistan are in the third position. The question is will India continue their streak against Pakistan or will the Pakistanis pull off a massive upset to break the streak?
Preview of Both The Sides:
Openers:
The reason why both of these teams have been so successful in the last year or so is because of their openers. Both of these teams have the best opening duos going into the tournament – KL Rahul & Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam & Mohammad Rizwan. They’ve been the most consistent opening duos in the last year or so. Here’s a chart of the top 4 opening duos in this tournament:
Babar Azam – Mohammad Rizwan have clearly been more consistent with an average of 52.10 compared to an average of 45.07 (both had a magnificent PSL this year) . However Rohit and KL have been much faster when it comes to the run rate, KL and Rohit strike faster than the other duo with a run rate of 9.42 as compared to a run rate of 9.16. Clearly there’s not much of difference between these two opening pairs. A strength which both of the sides clearly possess and rely a lot on to put up huge totals on the board. When it comes to stats, Babar and Rizwan are clearly better but let’s see which opening duo comes out on top.
Courtesy By : crictracker
Positions from 3-7 for Both Sides:
Well, Virat Kohli is arguably the greatest T20I batsman in the world and he has been extremely consistent in this format. He has been one of the batters who averages above 50 in the shortest form of the game. Also, when it comes to this tournament, he has clearly been the best batsman ever winning 2 Man of The Tournaments already (2014, 2016). That should say it all, we know that he has bossed this tournament so far. However off late, Kohli has not been as impressive as before in T20s. He was struggling in the recently concluded IPL but hopefully he’ll bounce back for India in the T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, Pakistan have given Fakhar Zaman the role to bat at 3 based on the warm up games concluded so far. Even though he has been highly inconsistent in the format, he looked really good in both the warm ups. Fakhar has been tried out in positions from 1-6 but has flopped a lot in the past but will he bounce back in this World Cup? For India, you have the talent amongst the inexperience, it’s the first T20 World Cup for both 360 degree player Suryakumar Yadav and Six Hitter Rishabh Pant. Suryakumar struggled throughout the IPL except for the last game against SRH, but has been incredible in the last 3 T20Is he played (including warmups). However it’s not the case for Rishabh Pant. His form has been absolutely patchy for India in T20Is but would love to improve that in the World Cup. He definitely has the talent but can he prove it in the biggest stage of T20 cricket? Similarly for Pakistan, they’ve a couple of batters who are out of form at the moment. Haider Ali and Asif Ali have a terrible record in T20Is and could not really make the most out of the chances that they got. Pakistan has enough talent but they need to prove it at the big stage. As for the experienced guns Malik and Hafeez, they’ve been a massive flop in ICC events but however Malik was just incredible in the T20 Cup while Hafeez is still out of form.
As for the big hitters, India have some of the best finishers in the shortest form of the game currently. Jadeja striked at 199 in the death overs in 2021 which is absolutely incredible and Hardik Pandya, who again, you could rely on with those quickfire 20 runs at the backend. That should probably explain why India have the best run rate in the death overs post the T20 World Cup. India's batting is pretty much sorted apart from Hardik whose place is in doubt if he doesn’t bowl. On the other hand, Pakistan have a lot of holes to fill in the middle order
Spin Bowling Department:
Spinners have definitely played a major role in the UAE and both of the sides boast a quality spin attack. As for India, they’ve picked 4 spinners in their side with Ashwin, Chahar, Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy in their side. Although, the exclusion of Chahal might be debatable, they still have a really really good spin bowling cartel. A proven powerplay bowler in T20 cricket in the form of Ashwin, an immensely talented leg spinner Rahul Chahar, a proper left arm off spinner in the form of Ravi Jadeja and finally a mystery spinner in Varun Chakravarthy. They absolutely have all their bases covered in the spin bowling department with variety. India could rotate their spinners easily given the fact that they have variety in their spin bowling cartel. As for Pakistan, they’ve a perfect powerplay left arm off spinner in Imad Wasim and one of the finest leg spinners going around at the moment – Shadab Khan. Both of them are quite handy with the bat as well with a quickfire 10-20 runs easily. Overall, both of these teams have the perfect resources when it comes to the spin bowling department. It’ll be interesting to see which spin attack will outplay the other.
Pace Bowling Cartel:
India has a lot of depth in the pace bowling department as well. Their only main concern is Bhuvneshwar Kumar's form off late. He got absolutely smashed in the warm up game against England and had a poor IPL for his standards. On the other hand, Shami and Shardul had an incredible IPL with Shardul picking up the most wickets in UAE this IPL. Shami on the other hand looked really good with handy wickets in the warm up game against England. Bumrah is obviously one of the best bowlers in the shortest format of the game going around at the moment and he’ll be a massive factor against Pakistan. For Pakistan, Hasan Ali is the 7th highest wicket taker in T20s this year with 41 wickets. He will have a significant role to play, not to forget he has that ability to swing hard at the end.. Shaheen Afridi has been nothing short of exceptional for Pakistan and will be a massive threat for India in the game. However, Haris Rauf has been woefully out of form for Pakistan and that’ll be the biggest concern for them.
What the skippers said ahead of the game?
Babar Azam: "An India-Pakistan contest is always a high-intensity match and there always is pressure but as players and as teams, we try to focus on cricket. We need to be calm and focus just on cricket. We will have to play good cricket in the match. As far as the conditions in UAE is concerned, since I have been playing cricket, we have played in UAE in the last 3-4 years and we know how the wickets will behave and how the batsmen need to adapt themselves. On the day, whoever plays better cricket will win and our aim is to play best cricket and if you ask me, I think we will win,"
Virat Kohli: "The current Pakistan team is very strong, they always have been so. They are very talented, with several players who can change the game anytime, Against a team like that, you need to arrive with your best plans, and make sure you execute it well. We definitely have to bring our A game tomorrow.
Stats to Ponder:
5 Times India has beaten Pakistan in T20 World Cups while Pakistan have not won a single game against India.
169 Runs have been scored by Virat Kohli against Pakistan in T20 World Cups and he hasn’t been dismissed yet against them with 2 Man of the Matches
34 Games have been won batting first in Dubai out of 61 games. Batting first would be ideal in this stadium.
41 Wickets have been picked by Hasan Ali this year in T20s with the 7th highest overall
Who holds the advantage heading into this game?
Despite the fact that Pakistan have enough talent and potential, I think India should ease themselves to a comfortable victory this game. They’ve had a wonderful record against Pakistan in T20 World Cups and they’ll be expected to carry the form in this World Cup as well. India have been exceptional in the shortest format of the game winning T20I series in England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and West Indies post the T20 World Cup 2016. However, Pakistan could stop them if their openers and middle-order players step up in the big game and of course if Shaheen Afridi manages to get rid of the openers early in the powerplay. Definitely, it’ll be the most hyped game of the tournament with the arch rivals going up against each other. We’ll have some great cricket for sure on Sunday, should be and will be an enticing one.
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