India and Pakistan will resume the arch-rivalry on Sunday when they face off in their first Super 12 encounter of the T20 World Cup 2022 at the iconic MCG.
India will be looking for revenge for their embarrassing 10-wicket loss that Babar Azam’s side handed them at last year’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, and also for causing their elimination from the Asia Cup a month ago.
While Pakistan is at its full strength, India is missing two major players from their first-choice eleven – Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah, who are ruled out of the tournament due to knee and back injuries respectively.
About the Indian team: while about 8-9 players pick themselves in India’s best XI from the squad, questions remain on the third seamer and the second spinner.
India has a tough question of whether they’d want to include Mohammed Shami in the eleven ahead of Harshal Patel, who also offers batting depth and is better than Shami in the death overs, an area India needs to work on.
Bumrah’s late injury forced the selectors and management to recall Mohammed Shami because of his experience even though he’d not played a single T20I since last year’s T20 World Cup. On the opposite front is the Pakistani pace sensation Shaheen Afridi, who’d downed India with a scintillating three-wicket haul last year – comprising the scalps of Rohit, Rahul, and Kohli. 22-year-old Shaheen is coming off a knee injury but was on the money in the warm-up matches.
Kapil Dev’s blunt response when asked about the comparison between Shami and Shaheen
Legendary Indian all-rounder and former captain Kapil Dev was part of a combined news panel of channels Samaa TV and ABP News, both of whom joined hands for Sunday’s mega-clash. Dev was asked about who is better between experienced pacer Shami and young and red-hot form Shaheen Afridi.
Kapil Dev downplayed this question, stating, “You can’t judge anything by just one over. Afridi was spot on when talked about looking at the performances of the last two years where Shaheen has been very good. Whenever he has got an opportunity, he has made an impact. I wouldn’t even like to compare (Shami and Shaheen).”
“Shami hasn’t played a lot of cricket of late. I would have perhaps compared Bumrah with Afridi if he was there but can’t compare Shami and Afridi because there is a lot of difference.”
