India will take on Pakistan in their opening game of the T20 World Cup on October 23. The International Cricket Council (ICC) released the schedule of the edition on January 21, and both India and Pakistan are placed in Group 2 alongside South Africa, Afghanistan and two other qualifiers.
The arch-rivals had also met in the opening game of the 2021 edition in October; then, Pakistan had registered their first-ever win over the Indian team in T20 World Cup history. The Babar Azam-led side cruised past India in a one-sided affair by 10 wickets. Following the release of the schedule of the 2022 edition, former Pakistan cricketer Mohammed Hafeez spoke in detail about the game.
“ICC always schedules it as the first game so it can get engagement,” Hafeez said on Sports Tak.
“Both teams have pressure. I've played many India-Pakistan games, and when you lose the first match, it always has an impact. When we won the first match, you could see that India's body language wasn't the same anymore. Because the amount of pressure a player bears is huge, and if you fail to win, it gets very difficult.”
Hafeez also talked about the Indian team and said that barring Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the other members of the side “cannot handle the pressure” of an India-Pakistan game.
{{/usCountry}}Hafeez also talked about the Indian team and said that barring Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the other members of the side “cannot handle the pressure” of an India-Pakistan game.
{{/usCountry}}“Personally, I feel Pakistan is growing high. In India, Virat and Rohit Sharma are two players who can touch par runs when they play. I'm not trying to say that others are not good. But if these two players don't play well in an India-Pakistan game, the others cannot handle that pressure,” said Hafeez.
"I believe it will always be a good game. Virat and Rohit are very good batsman, but others cannot handle the pressure of India-Pakistan game.