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Ex-IND star fires big warning to Rohit Sharma and Co for IND vs PAK clash: ‘He can probably win the match alone’
Kaif suggested that the batting remains a weak link for Pakistan but named a batter who can win the match on his own.
Former batter Mohammad Kaif has fired a big warning to the Indian team ahead of the highly anticipated clash against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2024. The Indian team has only lost once to the arch-rivals in the T20 World Cups which was in 2021, apart from that, the Men in Blue have enjoyed a big domination over them since 2007 including a win in the final of the inaugural event.
In the last edition of T20 World Cup in 2022, Kohli played one of the best knocks of his career to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat against Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground. When the odds were against India, Kohli stood tall with his unbeaten 82-run knock to take India over the line in a thrilling contest.
India extended their domination over Pakistan in the white-ball formats last year with emphatic wins in the Asia Cup 2023 and ODI World Cup.
Meanwhile, Kaif suggested that the batting remains a weak link for Pakistan but a player like Fakhar Zaman can change the tide of the game on his own.
"Everyone knows Pakistan's batting is weak. Fakhar Zaman plays a little fast. If he fires, he can probably win the match alone. Iftikhar Ahmad plays fast but other than that, everyone plays at a strike rate of 120 to 125. You are not that scared of their batting but are scared of their bowling," Kaif said during a discussion on Star Sports.
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The former India batter further talked about the Pakistan pace unit and said they missed Naseem Shah in the ODI World Cup last year but he would cause trouble for the Indian batters in New York.
"They will have Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah. Naseem Shah didn't come to play the World Cup in India. He was injured, but he is fit here. This will be a bouncy pitch. Naseem Shah is a very good bowler. If you talk about the Melbourne match that Virat Kohli won, if you see Naseem Shah's first spell, he got a nick and the catch was dropped at slip," he added.
The mouth-watering India vs Pakistan clash will be played on June 9 at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York.
