File photo of Sunil Gavaskar© AFP
India and Pakistan cricket fans are waiting with bated breath for the two teams’ mega clash in the T20 World Cup 2022 in Melbourne on Sunday. The last time the two sides face each other in a World Cup match, at the 2021 T20 World Cup, Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets. That loss started a slide for India that the side could not stop and bowed out of the group stage. This time around the Rohit Sharma-led India have a chance to begin on a strong note against Pakistan.
However, Pakistan have been boosted by the return of left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi, who was out for a long time due to injury. He played in Pakistan’s warm-up matches and on Wednesday took two wickets against Afghanistan. Former Indian cricket team captain Sunil Gavaskar feels that it is a great boost for Pakistan.
“I think that’s what their main concern was, about his fitness and how he will shape up. And certainly, in the two overs that he bowled, he’s shown that he’s back to full fitness. So, clearly that is one headache gone. I think with their catching, they were much better than what we saw against England. Their ground fielding was very good. So, these are two aspects that was worrying them and they have shown improvement in those areas. So, I don’t think they’ll have any doubts when they’ll take on India on Sunday,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Pakistan lost in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2021, losing to eventual winner Australia.
Topics mentioned in this article
