Pakistan's Level Has Gone Down, Don't Think They Can Compete With India Anymore - Harbhajan Singh

Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes Pakistan’s level of cricket has dipped in the last ten years and they’re now far behind Team India. He feels Pakistan doesn’t have what it takes to go toe-to-toe with the Men in Blue anymore.

Ahead of Babar Azam and co’s crucial clash against India in the T20 World Cup, Harbhajan stated that Pakistan used to produce good batsmen in the early 2000s or so but have seriously declined since then.

“There was a time when Pakistan had a very strong team and so did we and that led to some great competitions. In the last 10 years or so, Pakistan’s level of cricket, in my opinion, has gone down. No batsman seems to have arrived who makes me feel that they can score consistently in Test cricket,” Harbhajan said on Salaam Cricket 2021.

“The teams that really push India are England or Australia” – Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh further assessed that Team India is pushed to their limit only while playing against top teams like England and Australia. Without good batsmen among the ranks, Pakistan doesn’t have the necessary ammunition to take on India, he opined.

“T20 is a format in which anyone can score runs. If I look back at maybe 1998, when Anil Kumble took 10 wickets in an innings, Pakistan had batsmen like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar, Salim Malik, they had bowlers like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Saqlain Mushtaq.”

“Today it doesn’t look Pakistan can compete with India because they have maybe one or two players of that level in their team. The teams that really push India are England or Australia,” he concluded.

Virat Kohli’s men will face Pakistan on October 24, Sunday, in the first match of their Super-12 stage.

Also Read – There Was No Pressure From Our End – Sourav Ganguly On Virat Kohli’s Decision To Step Down As T20I Skipper