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Often touted as the mother of all battles in world cricket, India and Pakistan prepare to lock horns for yet another pulsating contest between the two nations. Political turmoil has kept both these cricketing teams away from playing bilateral series for over eight years, and the only time they meet each other is during the ICC events.
Having met each other in the 2019 World Cup in Manchester, where Pakistan went down by a big margin to their neighbours, the stakes have risen far higher for both sides to pick up a win. The Pakistani enter the tournament with a strong contingent, with a good mix of quality in their batting and bowling department.
Indians have been on a roll as well in the shortest format, and they are eager to put an end to their streak of not winning ICC tournaments, despite reaching the finals and semifinals nearly every time. Having won the Champions Trophy in 2013, the Men in Blue have lost three ICC finals and three semifinals since then.
Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper who announced that he will no longer take part in leadership capacity in the shortest format after the T20 World Cup, has an added incentive to do well this time. Despite having a glittering career as captain of the Test side, not having a major trophy in limited overs cricket has remained a disappointment for the 32-year-old.
While one era ends in the Indian setup, another one dawns in the neighbouring camp. Babar Azam, the exceptional batter from the Asian land, who draws great parallels to Kohli, will be leading his national team for the first time in an ICC event. The tiggest of his career challenges is yet to come, a major one among which will be the T20 World Cup.
Both these sides have met five times in the T20 World Cup, with India winning all five of them (one of them in a bowl-out in 2007). There is an increasing urge in the Pakistani camp to break the duck of not winning against India in an ICC tournament, and perhaps, this is one of their best opportunities.
Key players
Babar Azam is ranked number 1 in ODIs, number 2 in T20Is and number 7 in Tests, with over 10,000 international runs to his credit. The 27-year-old has registered five 50+ scores in the shortest format for Pakistan in 2021, one of which was his stellar 122 against South Africa. He is a force to reckon with this tournament and will cause some headaches for the Indian bowlers.
One of Pakistan’s most promising pacers, Shaheen Shah Afridi had an unforgettable campaign in the National T20 Cup, picking up 12 wickets in six games. Although his form at the international level remains a little bit of a concern, having picked just 10 wickets in 12 games, he did well in the warm-up games and is banking on his recent form to do well.
KL Rahul has been scoring runs for fun since the re-start of the Indian Premier League, and is relishing his new role as an opener of the Indian T20 side. He fired with a 25-ball 51 against England and got another good start against Australia in the warm-up games.
The game against Pakistan will be his 50th in T20Is and also comes into the tournament on the back of a 600+ run campaign in the IPL.
India’s most prolific cricketer across all formats, Jasprit Bumrah, has to be at his best to ensure India gets over the line, not just in this game but also in the tournament. He had a fantastic IPL once again with the Mumbai Indians, picking up 21 wickets and finishing as the third highest wicket-taker. Bumrah has 59 wickets in 50 T20Is, which came at an economy under 7.
Having been far away from the limited overs set up for almost half a decade, Ravichandran Ashwin is back in the mix and their most experienced spinner for the tournament. He has had a decent outing in the IPL, but is yet to hit his best. He bowled well in the warm-up games, where he gave away just 23 runs in 4 overs against England and picked up two wickets, opening the bowling against Australia.
Prediction
This is one of the closest India-Pakistan games in a long time in terms of the one-on-one quality of players. The Men in Green have lagged behind in that race for a while, but their talented players have given them a little leap.
India still would edge them as their individual talents are still ahead, not by a big margin, but ahead. It could all boil down to the batting department, which will not have an easy job to score runs, but it won’t be impossible as well to put up a big score.
India are expected to emerge victorious and continue their remarkable streak in ICC events against their arch-rivals.
