Virat Kohli-led India will take on Pakistan in their first Super 12 match in the T20 World Cup on Sunday. (File photo).
India will take on Pakistan in their first T20 World Cup assignment in Group 2 of Super 12 in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. As the cricketing world waits in bated breath for the mother of all battles to commence, we take a look at how former and present cricketers are gearing up to witness the biggest clash of the T20 World Cup.
2:30 PM: IND vs PAK: Fans engage in meme war, Check out latest India-Pakistan trends
Fans are out with some amazing memes for an iconic India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup clash. Let's check out the latest trends running out on the internet for this evening match that will start at 7.30 pm on 24th October, 2021 in Dubai.
1:40 PM: T20 World Cup 2021: 5 reasons why India can beat Pakistan in iconic clash in Dubai
Virat Kohli’s men in blue will cross swords with Babar Azam’s Pakistan on October 24, Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium.
The epic clash will be the campaign opener for both the sides in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021. While India will play their first-ever T20I match at this UAE venue, the blue brigade are still the favourites heading into the upcoming match against the old rivals.
5 reasons why India can beat Pakistan in iconic clash in Dubai ( File Photo)
India’s experienced top order
With Indian skipper Virat Kohli having already declared India’s top order batting combination, the men in blue have three genuine match-winners to start their proceedings.
The in-form KL Rahul with the experienced Rohit Sharma speaks volumes for the opening pair. The white ball specialist- Virat Kohli at number three gives India a rock solid and experienced trio with the willow.
Besides, Rahul and Sharma’s demonstrated run form in India’s warm up matches backed with Kohli’s special batting armour when it comes to Pakistan, gives enough reasons for the men in green to be wary of the Indian line-up.
1:20 PM: Twitter explodes with memes ahead of india vs pakistan match at T20 world Cup
12:36 PM: Azhar Mahmood wishes Pakistan players for a match against India.
12:30 PM: Dinesh Karthik curiously awaits for the biggest rivalry match of the tournament: India vs Pakistan
12:00 PM: Kohli expresses his confidence in terms of execution of plans in T20 World Cup
7:01 PM: IND vs PAK T20 WC: Kohli expects better pitches than IPL during World Cup
India captain Virat Kohli expects that the pitches on offer for the T20 World Cup will be better compared to the ones that were on offer during the recently concluded IPL where stroke-making became difficult for batters.
The Indian captain, who also led RCB for the last time in IPL, had plied his trade on all tracks and feels that ICC will present them with better strips which actually was work on progress during the IPL.
Asked if he sees nature of tracks changing, the Indian captain agreed.
"I believe so. Looking at the IPL final, I believe that quality of pitches definitely is going to be far better in this T20 World Cup," Kohli said on the eve of the big game against Pakistan.
The normal rules for ICC events will also play its part in improved playing conditions. India will play four out of its five group league games in Dubai with the match against Afghanistan being held in Abu Dhabi.
"Also being an ICC tournament, we know that standard of pitches is going to be maintained up to a certain degree which is consistent across all venues.
"I knew that to protect the pitches for a tournament like World Cup, there had to be some compromise in playing conditions when we played the IPL. We all understood that and wicket in the IPL final (between CSK and KKR) was very very good," he explained.
Kohli also agreed that dew factor will be prominent as the tournament progresses.
"Dew factor will be prominent as we head into this time of the year in Dubai. That is also going to help the pitches play much better.
"I believe Abu Dhabi and Dubai are going to be best pitches out of all the venues. Sharjah more or less will stay more or less true to its nature, which is slow and low and I don't myself too many high scoring matches ....," Kohli concluded.
5:06 PM: IND vs PAK: Imran Khan shared his experience of 1992 World Cup triumph, says Babar
Former Pakistan captain and the country's current Prime Minister Imran Khan has interacted with the team ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup, skipper Babar Azam said here on Saturday.
Imran shared with the team his experience of leading Pakistan to their maiden World Cup triumph in 1992.
"Before coming, we had a meeting and in that he (Imran) had shared his experience, about what was his mindset in the 1992 World Cup, what was his and the team's body language," Babar said on the eve of his team's clash against arch-rivals India.
India captain Virat Kohli on Saturday refused to get into any debate on the rationale behind his decision to quit national T20 captaincy after the ongoing T20 World Cup, saying he won't provide fodder to controversy seekers.
Eyebrows were raised when Kohli announced on his social media that he would relinquish captaincy after the mega event in the UAE.
2:17 PM: Pakistan announce their 12-man squad a day ahead of the match. Let's take a look:
Pakistan (Playing XI): Babar Azam (captain), Mohammed Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammed Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Harris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haider Ali.
2:10 PM: MS Dhoni fan Bashir Chacha from Pakistan spotted at Dubai stadium with a jersey "WELCOME BACK DHONI". The famed Pak cricket fan stopped watching India-Pakistan matches from the stadium after Dhoni retired from international cricket last year.
When Harbhajan and Shoaib Akhtar were involved in friendly banter hours ahead of the big day.
Amid all the razzmatazz building around the big clash, former India Test opener Aakash Chopra suggested not to forget the other matches today.
READ: Cursory look at India vs Pakistan WC matches in cricketing history
India will open their T20 World Cup 2021 campaign against the arch-rivals Pakistan on October 24, Sunday. Regarded as one of the fiercest sports rivalries in the world, the two cricketing nations will square off in the marquee series at the Dubai International Stadium, UAE. Ahead of the iconic clash this weekend, let’s have a look at India-Pakistan cricket competitiveness over the years in the prestigious world cup campaigns.
History is a witness to substantiate that India are favourites against the neighbouring country heading into the upcoming clash on Sunday. Stating India as ‘winners’ against the ‘men in green’ in the World Cup campaigns would be an understatement as the blue brigade have ‘conquered’ over Pakistan in all world cup matches across all formats, leaving the latter with zero wins.
Till now, the two counties have squared off in seven ODI World Cup matches, all of which have been won by India. Let’s relive India’s scintillating journey against Pakistan in the 50-over World Cup ahead of the upcoming prestigious T20 clash on Sunday.
India’s winning streak in the ODI World Cup started back then in 1992 in Sydney, where India attracted a convincing 43-run win courtesy of India’s remarkable bowling. After putting 216 runs on the board, India gave Pakistan a tough chase and kept scalping regular wickets. Manoj Prabhakar and Kapil Dev did the trick with the ball, both of whom claimed two wickets each with an economy of less than three. The waves turned in India’s favour when Srinath knocked over Miandad with a splendid yorker. With the bat, the master blaster, who was just 18-years then, smashed a half century and was adjudged as the player of the match.
READ: T20 World Cup 2021: A look at India vs Pakistan quick stats in T20Is
The T20 World Cup 2021 has kicked off and one of the mouth-watering contests between India-Pakistan is round the corner. Virat Kohli led India and Babar Azam guided Pakistan will cross swords at the Dubai International Stadium on October 24, Sunday. As the two teams gear up for the shortest format of the game scheduled to be played this weekend as a part of the T20 World Cup 2021, we look at the quick stats to rekindle the buzz ahead of the India-Pakistan contest.
Head to head
Most runs/ Top run-getters
Virat Kohli and co. will take on Babar Azam led Pakistan in the iconic T20 clash at the Dubai International Stadium on October 24, Sunday. While India would aim to continue their unidirectional winning spree against Pakistan, the green brigade, on the other hand, would aim to turn their fortunes in the upcoming clash.
Surprisingly, the matches of these two heavyweights have been quite one-sided in India’s favour, especially when it comes to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The two sides have squared off a total of five times, where matches have been utterly ruled the blue brigade. India have clinched victory in four matches and the remaining match had concluded in a tie. With zero wins against India in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup so far, Babar Azam and co. would run errands to register their maiden win in this tournament when they lock horns against India this weekend.
Ahead of the much-awaited India vs Pakistan contest on Sunday, let us journey as to how the two teams have fared out in their clashes so far in the history of the tournament.
