New Delhi [India], June 7 (ANI): Former Pakistan wicketkeeper batsman Kamran Akmal revealed the standards that Pakistan need to meet to win against arch-rival India in their upcoming T20 World Cup clash at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York.
Both teams will add a new chapter in their historic cricketing rivalry in the ongoing marquee event. India are enjoying a purple patch of form while Pakistan have struggled to find the right balance within their team.
Their loss to the co-hosts USA in the tournament opener led to a lot of criticism from some sections of fans as well as former cricketers.
Akmal believes if Pakistan want to walk out of the stadium triumphant then they need to be better than their arch-rival in every department.
“In order to win against India you need to be better than them, you have to make a better team than them and play better. But as of now the confidence of the Pakistan team is low,” Akmal said on his YouTube channel.
Ahead of the high-voltage clash, India will step into the stadium riding high on winning momentum. The Rohit Sharma-led team won their campaign opener against Ireland with a comprehensive 8-wicket win in New York.
But Pakistan are going through a contrasting form than that of their arch-rival. They lost the opening match of their three-match T20I series against Ireland and the T20I series against England by 2-0 before the tournament.
Their loss to the USA added salt to their wounds days before the highly-anticipated clash. Pakistan managed to crawl to 159/7 after Shaheen Afridi came in and pulled off a couple of big hits at the end.
The match went down to the wire and five runs were needed on the final ball, Nitish Kumar struck a four to send the game to Super Over.
Mohammad Amir came out to bowl for Pakistan and lost his line and length. His inconsistency helped the USA put 18/1 on the board.
In reply, Pakistan folded on 13/1 and succumbed to a five-run defeat. Apart from form, history also backs India ahead of their contest. Out of seven encounters, India have won six and lost one in the history of the T20 World Cup.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan
Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan. (ANI)
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