India vs Pakistan: The high-pressure clash of India vs Pakistan is just around the corner and the fans from both sides will witness uncommon scenes from the cricket ground. With India refraining to compete against Pakistan in bilateral series owing to political tensions, the fans from both sides wait for a long to get a glimpse of two dominant sides together inside the field of cricket.
The India-Pakistan rivalry will be once again in the field of cricket on 24th October in the Dubai International Stadium as the two sides lock horns against each other to open their T20 World Cup 2021 campaign.
It’s important to note that India has mercilessly thrashed Pakistan five times in the T20 World Cup 2021 and Pakistan is yet to register a win against the daunting Men in Blue.
Though Indian cricketers and squad look stronger in every aspect, ruling out Pakistan right away from the contest will not be a cakewalk for the Indians. The two sides are well equipped with quality players with a good amount of experience under their belts.
Here in this article, we have tried to provide you with a few match-ups and key battles in the clash of India and Pakistan.
Key Battles between India vs Pakistan ICC T20 World Cup 2021 match:
Jasprit Bumrah vs Mohammad Rizwan:
Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan has been the guy who has played several rock-solid innings up front for his national team in the T20I format. From being a perfect ally to Babar Azam in the opening combination to Pakistan’s one of the most dependable batsmen, Rizwan has established himself as a brutal force when it comes to batting in different situations.
The right-handed batsman has scored over 1,000 runs in the 43 T20I matches at an impressive average of 48.40. The cricketer strikes at a little below 130, however, the numbers can go high as he continues to build his innings.
Though Rizwan doesn’t seem to be bothered with a lot of deliveries, varying pace is something which he constantly looks to duck down.
Team India will find Jasprit Bumrah a potent option handling the Pakistani batsman. Bumrah has all in his armoury to disturb the concentration of Mohammad Rizwan and when it comes to change in the pace, Bumrah’s abilities are simply unmatchable.
Bumrah was in a good form in the recent UAE leg of the IPL 2021 and picked up 15 wickets in 7 matches. He used his pace to trouble the batter and was quite accurate with that as well.
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Mohammad Shami vs Babar Azam:
India vs Pakistan match can’t go without naming Pakistani skipper Babar Azam in the favourites list. The flamboyant cricketer has garnered all praises for his sensational batting skills which in some cases pips Indian Virat Kohli as well.
Azam’s numbers in the shortest format are just unbelievable. He held the number one spot in ICC’s T20I batsmen ranking for a long long time before England’s Dawid Malan toppled the Pakistani cricketer.
With the experience of 61 T20I matches, Azam has scored 2204 runs at an alarming average of 46.89 and strikes at 130.64. He has plundered 20 half-centuries and a hundred in T20Is.
Despite performing well against so many quality bowlers, Azam tends to bow down to the outgoing deliveries, which has been pointed out by former English skipper Nasser Hussain.
India’s Mohammad Shami can expose Azam’s weakness in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021 with his sheer consistency to hit the right deck and make the ball move away and towards the batter.
The speedster picked up 11 wickets in the UAE leg and most of them came inside the powerplays. He was quite impressive in his first warm-up match against England as well where he picked up three wickets out of which two came in the early part of the innings.
If India fetches the wicket of Pakistani skipper, it will be a huge blow for the opposition and can even lead to a sudden debacle.
Virat Kohli vs Shaheen Shah Afridi:
The Indian skipper Virat Kohli has been on the headlines for varied reasons throughout his illustrious career, however, in recent times, the cricketer has picked up the spotlight after he announced his last stint as shortest format captain (T20s and T20Is). The Vivo IPL 2021 was his final assignment as RCB skipper and the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021 will be his final call for India as the leader of the group in T20Is. Though Virat Kohli, the batsman, will continue to provide his services to both RCB and team India in the shortest format.
Kohli has achieved all in his bright cricketing career but his vacant trophy cabinet is what seems to bother him and his fans. He has led India to so many famous and historic bilateral victories, however, his luck in the ICC events goes down as team India returns back with empty hands despite performing well in the group stages.
The captain of the Indian ship will look to finish his T20I captaincy chapter on a high and the cricketer has everything in his arsenal to do so. Be it his individual capabilities or the prowess of the Indian squad, Virat is decked up with the highly experienced class of players in each aspect.
Virat has mustered as many as 3159 runs in his 84 T20I innings from 90 matches. He is the highest run-getter in the T20Is. The decorated Indian cricketer averages above 50 in the shortest format and has smacked 28 fifties.
It’s quite a task to deceive Virat Kohli with any kind of delivery when he is on-song, however, it is rightly said that every batter has his loose points and Virat Kohli does possess a few.
If the last few India vs Pakistan World Cup matches are tracked, Virat has found himself in an uncomfortable position against the left-arm seamers. In the 2019 ODI World Cup and 2017 Champions Trophy final, Virat became the prey of left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir.
This time around, Pakistan doesn’t have the likes of Mohammad Amir, but a sensational 21-years old left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi is right in the Pakistani squad to trouble the batter. The express pacer was in fine form in the National T20 Cup where he picked up 12 wickets from six matches.
The lanky pacer knows exactly how to use his 6 feet 5 inches height to generate bouncers and awkward angles to trouble the opposition.
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