Babar Azam’s Pakistan will look to end their losing streak against India at the Twenty20 World Cup when the two rivals begin their title race in a Sunday blockbuster.
India have beaten Pakistan in all of their 12 matches at the T20 and 50-over World Cups.
However, Pakistan come into the Super 12s contest with 10 wins in a row in the United Arab Emirates and former Pakistan all-rounder Mudassar Nazar believes the team has struck the right balance to challenge Virat Kohli’s India.
“Pakistan stand a very good chance as they have experienced players who have played a lot against India. India start as favourites and they have all the areas covered but in T20 anybody could beat anybody on their day,” said Nazar.
Azam, who is in top form with two T20 centuries this year, believes his team can break the World Cup jinx.
“Definitely we have played a lot of cricket in the UAE,” Babar said when asked about his team’s dismal 0-5 record against India in T20 World Cup clashes.
“These conditions suit us and we know how to play here. We need to keep things simple in all the departments.”
The two teams last met in the 2019 ODI World Cup in England as India only plays Pakistan in multi-nation events after cutting off bilateral cricket ties with their neighbours following the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
India head into the contest with two big wins against England and Australia in their warm-up matches with openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma scoring big runs.
Pakistan will depend on the experience of Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik while Babar, Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman hold the key at the top of the order.
The bowling, led by Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali, looks potent to trouble any opposition in the Super 12 stage.
Here’s all you need to know about the Group 2 match between Australia and South Africa.
When will the Group 2 match of the T20 World Cup 2021 between India and Pakistan take place?
The match between India and Pakistan will take place on 24 October 2021.
What is the venue for the India and Pakistan match?
The match will take place at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai.
What time will the India and Pakistan match start?
The match will begin at 7.30 pm IST. The toss will take place at 7 pm IST.
Which TV channels will broadcast the Australia vs South Africa match
The match will be telecast on the Star Sports Network. The live streaming of the match will also be available on Disney+ Hotstar. Besides, you can browse Firstpost.com for live updates and over-by-over commentary.
Squad
India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami
South Africa: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan (vice-capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Asif Ali, Sohaib Maqsood, Azam Khan (wk), Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Hasnain
With inputs from AFP.