ICC T20 World Cup 2022: The battle between the arch-rivals India and Pakistan is always intense. Players from both teams tried hard to get under the skin of the opposition and to do well against each other. Today, we will talk about the 5 key players’ battle to look for in India vs Pakistan game in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022.
In the past as well, there are a lot of battles between the players from India and Pakistan. We used to love watching Pakistani bowlers like W Akram, W Younis, and S Akthar against the likes of V Sehwag, Sachin T, R Dravid, etc.
Nowadays, the players are changed but the rivalry is not. Both teams have some world-class players in the team who can win games on their own. Let’s see the 5 key battles between the players.
Players battle in the ICC T20 World Cup
1. Shaheen Shah Afridi vs the Indian openers
As we saw in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE, Shaheen Shah Afridi set up the game for Pakistan by getting both the openers out inside his 2 overs. After that blow, Team India recovered but didn’t able to score a winning total on the board.
Shaheen got R Sharma on the first ball and KL Rahul by getting the ball back in with pace. Especially the delivery to KL Rahul was a dream delivery and was unplayable.
In the recent past as well, we saw Indian batters struggling against the left-arm seamers. Whether it is M Amir in the Champions Trophy 2017 final, T Boult in the 2019 ICC World Cup, etc. Indian batters had their issues against the left-arm seamers. Especially the ones who bring the ball back in with the new ball.
Shaheen Shah Afridi with the new ball against the Indian openers will be the one battle to watch out for. Indian openers will look to tackle this new ball threat against Shaheen Shah Afridi. And Shaheen wants to pick up those two as early as possible. Let’s see how this battle panned out.
2. M Rizwan and B Azam vs B Kumar and M Shami
With J Bumrah ruled out of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, M Shami is most likely to share the new ball with B Kumar.
Pakistan has two good openers in B Azam and M Rizwan. Both are very compact and very consistent in terms of runs scoring. It will be a challenge for them to face B Kumar and M Shami with the new ball just like R Sharma and KL Rahul against Shaheen S Afridi.
B Kumar and M Shami both are experienced campaigners. Both are very good with the new ball. Especially B Kumar swings the new ball both ways and troubles the batters. Rizwan and Babar have to be careful about this threat. This battle will be the one to look for. If the Indian new ball bowlers managed to get Babar and Rizwan early, they will restrict Pakistan to a small total.
3. D Karthik vs H Rauf
Ever since D Karthik came back into the Indian team, he has been playing a role of a finisher very well in whatever matches he got. He gives momentum to the team in the death overs by playing some crucial quick-fire cameos. Pakistan’s pace machine H Rauf is one of the bowlers who has done well in the death overs. The battle between H Rauf and D Karthik will be interesting to see as both are doing well in their respective roles in ICC T20 World Cup 2022
4. Surya Kumar Yadav vs Shadab Khan
SK Yadav loves to charge the spinners in the middle overs. He never gets shy to attack the spinners in whatever situation. He attacks them and never gave them a chance to settle down.
Shadab is the kind of bowler who loves to take wickets in the middle overs. He never got feared to toss the bowl and try to deceive the batters in flight. The battle between SK Yadav and S Khan will be interesting to see in the ICC T20 World Cup.
5. H Pandya vs Pakistani bowlers in death overs
H Pandya has matured a lot in the last couple of years. He has played some important innings for Team India and got the team over the line. In fact recently against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2022, he got the team over the line in an important run chase in the last over.
Pakistan has a pace battery that bowled well in death overs. But H Pandya is also in form and hitting bowlers all around the world. The battle between them will be the one to look for in the ICC T20 World Cup.
These are the few key battles that we can expect from the game between India and Pakistan in ICC T20 World Cup 2022. The game will be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground. What is your prediction for this game? Comment your opinion below.
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