India and Pakistan will clash in the World T20 opener on March 19 and Gavaskar said the Asia Cup encounter tomorrow will set the tone for that match.
Advertisement
India had registered a seven-wicket win when they last met Pakistan in a shortest format of the game – in the group stage of 2014 World T20 in Mirpur.
With less than two weeks before the event, the first phase of ticket sales opened on Wednesday, excluding those featuring India, the semi-finals and the final of the men’s and women’s events.
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said he hoped that his team would be able to give India a competitive match after their players had some useful practice in the recently concluded Pakistan Super League in the UAE. Also, the match will be played in the same Sher-E-Bangla Stadium where India beat Bangladesh. “I think for me the Asia Cup and the World Cup are more important than my retirement and I am focusing on that at the moment”, he said with a smile, going on to add that he had come to terms with the fact that his Boom-Boom days are over.
Pakistan have received government clearance to travel to India and participate in the World Twenty20, bringing to an end a period of uncertainty about their involvement in the tournament. “Also they now play Twenty20 cricket more than anyone else”. “I am looking forward to the challenge of bowling to the Indian batsmen on Saturday”, said Amir while speaking to TOI in a brief chat.
Pakistan will play their first match at the World T20 against a qualifier team in Kolkata on March 16, before taking on arch-rivals India in a high-profile game in Dharamsala three days later. He could be a vital component in Pakistan’s arsenal of bowlers against India. While India’s batting might is no secret anymore, Pakistan are talking up their bowling strength, especially with the return of Mohammad Amir.
“We want a full “home” series so that we recoup our financial losses which we have faced over the years due to India not playing us”.
“It is always a player’s prerogative when to retire and Afridi is no different”.
The 2009 World T20 winners will depend on their charismatic all-rounder skipper Shahid Afridi to deliver for the side alongside experienced Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik. We have got pacers who are considered wicket takers. “They will try to score heavily but we also have good batsmen”.
Advertisement
The Tigers had a dream run in 2015 in One-Day Internationals, but when it comes to 20-over cricket it is still ranked among the minnows.
