India vs Pakistan: 3 Reasons Why India Will Beat Pakistan In ICC T20 World Cup 2022

India vs Pakistan: 3 Reasons Why India Will Beat Pakistan In ICC T20 World Cup 2022. Rohit Sharma-led team will head into the ICC T20I World Cup 2022 starting later this month will an aim to win their first title since the inaugural triumph under MS Dhoni back in 2007. After a disappointing showing in the T20I World Cup 2021 where they failed to reach the semifinals, the Rohit Sharma-led team will look for a much better showing down under in Australia.

The venue of the 2022 T20I World Cup tournament is Australia. The Men in Blue will play their opening match of the upcoming T20I World Cup 2022 on October 23 against Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground. India is part of group 2 in the tournament with teams like Pakistan, South Africa, and Bangladesh in their pool.

The last time the two teams met at the 2021 T20I World Cup, Pakistan had beaten India by 10 wickets in their Super 12 match in Dubai to register their first-ever win against their neighbours in World Cups. Babar Azam hit an unbeaten 68, while Mohammad Rizwan smashed an unbeaten 79. Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled a terrific spell of 3/31 with three prized scalps of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli.

India vs Pakistan: 3 Reasons Why India Will Beat Pakistan In ICC T20 World Cup 2022

1. India’s experienced top-order and superior batting depth

KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have been among the most devastating opening pairs for more than five years and will be among the key players in India’s chances of putting a poor 2021 T20I World Cup behind them just a year later. KL Rahul was India’s leading scorer at the tournament last year but Rohit Sharma also has the pedigree of scoring heavily at the biggest events and will now want to lead from the front as skipper.

Suryakumar Yadav-the man who can’t do any wrong in this T20I format and India’s own Mr. 360, is one of the most improved players since the last World Cup and is going through a purple patch.  He has scored 801 runs this year averaging 40.05 in 23 innings at a strike rate of 184.56 and is ranked No. 2 in T20Is only behind Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan.

Virat Kohli recently returned to form in the Asia Cup 2022 where he was the 2nd highest run-getter by amassing 276 runs in 5 T20Is averaging 92. He also hit a ton after 2019 and his first in T20I by scoring 122* against Afghanistan. He followed it up by scoring 63 in a T20I against Australia and 49* in a T20I against Proteas. He averages 67.67 against Pakistan having amassed 406 runs in 9 T20Is.

2. Pakistan’s over-reliance on openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan and Out Of Form Middle Order Batters

Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have been the pillars of Pakistan’s batting lineup for the last couple of years. They have been the most prolific opening pair in the international circuit of late as they have piled on 1897 runs in 37 innings averaging 54.2 batting together as openers.

The duo was the architects when the Men in Green thrashed India by 10 wickets in the last year’s World Cup and can again lead their team to victory. Moreover, Pakistan’s openers have been in a pristine touch of late.

They were the top two run-getters in the recently culminated T20I series against England. Mohammad Rizwan amassed 316 in six games averaging 63.2 at a strike rate of 138.60 whereas Babar Azam aggregated 285 runs in seven games at a strike rate of 143.22.

Unlike the skipper, the wicket-keeper batter was quite sensational in the Asia Cup 2022 as well and scored the most runs- 281 in six games averaging 56.2. However, the middle-order batters forms are a bit of a concern. The Babar Azam-led side had kept faith in Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, and Asif Ali, but none of them performed exceptionally well in the six matches in Asia Cup 2022.

Fakhar Zaman scored 96 runs at an average of 16 and a strike rate of 103. Iftikhar Ahmed scored 105 runs with a strike rate of only 100.96 and an average of 26.25. Khushdil Shah scored 58 runs at an average of 14.50 and a strike rate of 120.83. Asif Ali scored 41 runs at an average of 8.50. Haider Ali, Asif Ali, Khushdil Shah, and Iftikhar Ahmed are repeatedly coming under intense criticism on social media for their consecutive failures.

3. India’s In form spin attack

Ravindra Jadeja, who misses out on India’s T20 World Cup squad due to injury, has paved the way for a like-to-like replacement in Axar Patel, who, just like the former, contributes to all three departments. He has already picked up 18 wickets this year in 17 T20Is averaging 21.39, and the bigger ground dimensions in Australia will favour this left-arm spin bowler.

The left-arm spinner won the player of the series award against Australia T20Is, after bagging 8 wickets in 3 games at an average of 7.87 at an economy of 6.3. He was the top wicket-taker in that series. He will be aided by Yuzvendra Chahal who has already taken 21 wickets at an economy of 7.60 this year.

India has three specialist spinners (Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, and Ravichandran Ashwin) and a part-timer in Deepak Hooda in the 2022 T20I World Cup squad. The Men in Blue are likely to play two specialists, but which two is unsure. Since Yuzvendra Chahal is a right-arm spinner, the team might go ahead with a left-arm spinner like Axar Patel as the other spinner in the clash against Pakistan.