T20 World Cup 2022 will be kicked off with Australia vs New Zealand contest. They both played the finals of 2021 World Cup in UAE. This time Australian team is hosting the T20 World Cup 2022 and they are top most favorites to win this edition. Australia is coming in this tournament as a defending champion.
India will start their campaign against Pakistan on 23rd October, Sunday. India vs Pakistan is always been high voltage affair between these two especially in T20 World Cup. This is the hottest rivalry between these two teams after the Ashes which is played in between Australia and England.
India desperate to take revenge of last T20 World Cup
Rohit & company will be desperate to take revenge of the last game played in the previous World Cup. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul will be eager to make some runs against Pakistan and Shaheen as they both failed in the last encounter. Virat Kohli was the only batsman who faced the fiercy bowling of Pakistan and made a half century in that crucial inning. He took the team to the respective total. Whosoever wins this contest will go with high morale and confidence in the upcoming matches.
Indian team almost covered every aspect of the combination. India lack the finisher in the last World Cup and that cost them hugely. This time India is going with Dinesh Karthik who is well known finisher and shown his capabilities in the recent months. Dinesh will be accompanied by Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel.
The only problem with Indian team is death bowling. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is struggling in 19th over meanwhile Harshal Patel is still to find his form. India surely gonna miss Jasprit Bumrah who is best in the business while bowling in death overs.
Historical history between India vs Pakistan in T20 World Cup
India played against Pakistan 6 times and won 5 matches. The only match Pakistan won against India was in the previous T20 World Cup 2021. In last World Cup match Pakistan outplayed India in every department whether it is bowling, batting and fielding.
Pic Courtesy: Google
Shaheen Shah Afridi has been phenomenal in that match with 3/31. He bowled absolutely well in that contest by dismissing 3 top order batsmen of India i.e., K L Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Surya Kumar Yadav. He will be the key for Pakistan against India in the opening match. Shaheen is coming back from injury and currently bowling exceptionally well.
The clash started between these two from 2007 T20 World Cup. In this edition India and Pakistan played two matches between each other. The first league match was tied and result came out through bowl out in which India emerged victorious.
The second match was played in the Finale of T20 World Cup 2007. Gautam Gambhir and Rudra Pratap Singh powered India to win the final as well as tournament. They both emerged as leading run scorer and leading wicket taker in the tournament. It was a nail-biting final of 2007 between India and Pakistan. Pakistan fought till the last wicket but came short of 5 runs.
After that they both played 3 more matches against each other which came out to be one-sided and India won those easily.
Pitch Report and Weather Conditions
According to the reports, the weather may create problems in India vs Pakistan match. It is expected that rain could have intervene in the high voltage match. There are 90% of chances of drizzle in Melbourne, Australia.
As per the pitch curator, the pitch will be helpful for both seamers and spinners. There will be good bounce and slight turn in this pitch. It will be a high scoring match and due will not affect the match. The only problem will be the rain in this contest.
Possible Playing XI’s of both teams
India: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh
Pakistan: Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Haider Ali, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah
