Virat Kohli’s men in blue will cross swords with Babar Azam’s Pakistan on October 24, Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium.
The epic clash will be the campaign opener for both the sides in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021. While India will play their first-ever T20I match at this UAE venue, the blue brigade are still the favourites heading into the upcoming match against the old rivals.
Here we present five reasons why India can beat Pakistan in Dubai.
India’s experienced top order
With Indian skipper Virat Kohli having already declared India’s top order batting combination, the men in blue have three genuine match-winners to start their proceedings.
The in-form KL Rahul with the experienced Rohit Sharma speaks volumes for the opening pair. The white ball specialist- Virat Kohli at number three gives India a rock solid and experienced trio with the willow.
Besides, Rahul and Sharma’s demonstrated run form in India’s warm up matches backed with Kohli’s special batting armour when it comes to Pakistan, gives enough reasons for the men in green to be wary of the Indian line-up.
Depth in the Indian unit
An already star-studded line-up till number 7- Ravindra Jadeja’s spot, the lower order’s ability to chip in runs that they metamorphosed off-late, has come as a cherry on the cake.
While Bhuvneshwar Kumar already possesses batting skills, the showcase of fine willow performance by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami recently has furthered India’s batting depth. This weakness turned strength can bring India all guns blazing against Pakistan.
MS Dhoni as mentor
Roping in MS Dhoni as a mentor will aid India in strategizing games and team management. Being well versed with the strengths and weaknesses of all the players in the Indian camp, his addition at the helm of affairs comes as a plus.
Further his guidance of taking the game deep can potentially change the complexion of the game.
Psychological effect
When it comes to the ICC events, India have conquered over Pakistan across formats. They have never lost against the arch rivals, neither in the 50-over World Cup nor in the T20 World Cup. The psychological effect of zero wins against India in the World Cups will linger heavily on Babar Azam and co. which also gives India an added advantage.
Pakistan’s over-dependency on Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan
While Pakistan have the two experienced players- Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik in their side but the team has heavily depended on skipper Azam and Rizwan to get them the batting thrust.
While Fakhar Zaman has emerged reasonably well over the time but the men in green, otherwise have an issue in regard to their middle-order.
