India versus Pakistan is a match looked forward to by millions of cricket lovers across the Indian subcontinent and also by many others all over the world.
In recent times India’s dominance over Pakistan, especially in the white-ball format, with the odd stumble like in the ICC T20 World Cup in Dubai in 2020, has made Indian fans a lot less nervous and more confident about their team. They will be even more confident after Pakistan crashed to a defeat to hosts USA in their first match in this campaign. The shorter the format, the greater the chances of an upset, for it takes just a couple of deliveries or a couple of lusty hits to turn the game on its head. Pakistan will want to come charging back and they know that the one sure way of restoring their fans’ faith is by beating India.
In normal circumstances, India, with its all-round strength, would be a shoo-in to clinch the game.
That said, the pitch at the New York stadium is, to put it mildly, a bit tricky and that evens things up for Pakistan as their bowlers could exploit that to good effect. Of course, they will have to bowl better than what they did against the USA where they bowled some rubbish particularly in the Super Over. But, every Pakistan player knows that a match-turning performance against India means he will be remembered forever.
If Pakistan wins the toss and bowl first, then the morning freshness of the pitch, added to its challenging bounce, could make it tough for the Indian batters. India has a couple of bruised batters in skipper Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant, and they don’t need any more as the tournament progresses to the business end. As always, this will be a contest between Indian batters and Pakistan bowlers.
India start as the favourites but Pakistan can be unpredictable. Even more than the pitch at the New York stadium.
(Professional Management Group)