Shoaib Akhtar: “India will come up with proper planning this time around. It will not be easy for Pakistan to beat India in T20 World Cup this time”
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Legendary fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said it won’t be so easy for Pakistan to beat India in the T20 World Cup this time around.
The men in green demolished their arch-rivals by 10 wickets in last year’s T20 World Cup, which marked the first time they defeated India in a T20 World Cup match.
The two sides are scheduled to face each in the 2022 T20 World Cup on October 23 in Melbourne.
Given what happened last time, Akhtar believes India will be better prepared.
“India will come up with proper planning this time around. It will not be easy for Pakistan to beat India in T20 World Cup this time,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
The Rawalpindi Express suggested that Pakistan bowl second as the pitch in Melbourne will offer more assistance to their pace bowlers.
“Predicting match results now is quite difficult but Pakistan should bowl second as [the] pitch in Melbourne offers bounce to fast bowlers,” he said.
He also predicts there to be 150,000 fans in the crowd, which will add to the pressure of the highly-anticipated encounter.
“I believe the crowd will be bigger this time. Around 150,000 fans will watch the match line in Melbourne. Out of which, 70,000 will be Indian supporters,” he said.
Right now, Pakistan are in Sri Lanka to play two Tests, which will be held in Galle and Colombo from July 16 to 28.
Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka Tests: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain, wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood and Yasir Shah
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