For long, India vs Pakistan matches have been considered to be an even battle between Indian batters and Pakistani fast bowlers; but that contest has lost its competitive edge in recent years even as the two teams once again draw battle lines — this time in Dubai for the Group A fixture of the ICC Champions Trophy.
India’s batting line-up has lately gained the upper hand against Pakistan’s depleting reserve of quality bowlers, and former batter Basit Ali believes that has put a scare in the mind of Pakistan fans.
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‘India ki batting aur unke young spinners ne daraya hua hai sabko. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja. Yeh aath number tak baari jo hai na isne daraya hua hai Pakistan ki awaam ko (Indian batters and their young spinners are intimidating; their batting till No. 8 scares Pakistan fans),” said Basit in a video on his YouTube channel.
He said, in comparison to that, the Pakistan players appear no match for the Indian team.
“Pakistan has what? Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf (among pacers). If we talk about batting, who all are there? Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, who batted so well in the last match. The whole world is saying he batted slow. (Played) ODI like a Test match,” he added, talking sarcastically about Babar’s 90-ball 64 in the defeat against New Zealand.
“Mohammad Rizwan was in good form but had a bad game (against New Zealand). Salman Agha played well. Who else will you name? Saud Shakeel, Kamran Ghulam, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah…cricket-wise there is no comparison. Upset can happen, if it turns out to be a low-scoring match.”
Pakistan are in a must-win situation having lost their Champions Trophy opener against New Zealand. If they lose to India today, their chances of qualifying for the semis will only be mathematically alive and depend on other results in the group as well.
Basit said if Pakistan manage to put it across India, it will be an upset win because India are the overwhelming favourites.
“Pakistan batters can play with a run-rate of 4-5, but can’t score at 8 runs an over, not in Dubai. That’s my opinion. They need to do something different,” said Basit.
“Only if Pakistan do something different can they upset India. If they play in the same routine, then it will be ta-ta, bye bye.
“It’s an opportunity to become a hero in one day.”
