Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif believes that India are the favourites to win the Champions Trophy 2025 clash against the Mohammad Rizwan-led side which is scheduled to take place at Dubai International Stadium in Dubai.
Team India have already won their first league match of the marquee event and on the other hand, Pakistan are coming after losing their first match against New Zealand.
In the exclusive conversation with Sports Tak, Rashid Latif believes that India's strategy of taking five spinners into the squad is a masterstroke by the selectors.
"I think you can say that one of the favourites is the way their performance has started. It was against England. Their lean period or bad period has ended. They lost against Australia in the Test Series and lost at home against New Zealand. This was the most worked period in India in the last 10 years. But let's see now. People are saying that India has more spinners. We are also saying that there are 5 spinners" said Rashid Latif.
"But two are pure all-rounder. They may not have counted as a spinner. If we talk about the Champions Trophy 2017, which both of our teammates won, Pakistan had four spinners" Latif also said.
He further stated the example of Pakistan's Champions Trophy 2017 winning squad where they had four spinners who can bat as well.
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"In that, there were Shoaib Malik, Hafiz, Shadab and Imad Waseem. So when you have such good batters, they can bowl. They were all-rounders. That team always dominates. There is a variety of options that can be done. And you must have seen that Imad Waseem who got unfit did 2-3 balls or 2-3 overs. Fakhar Zaman also did it. So this is what India has achieved at this time" Latif also said.
Latif also reckons that it was India's bowling that always created troubles for Pakistan since 1992.
"India's bowling has always been a nuisance to Pakistan. And if you look at the history of the World Cup or T20, In 1992, bowling dominated. In Sydney, in 1996, in Bangalore, India dominated the bowling. In 1999, in Old Trafford, dominate here. 2003 Centurion, in which Harbhajan was also there. You can see that, not only in Harbhajan but also in 2003. After that, there was a lean period, and then there were no matches. 2011 Mohali, there was no big target. India dominated there too. In 2015, India dominated in Adelaide too. So is India's batting good or bowling? And people think that batting is good. But I think that Pakistan always got defeated. My observation is that India's bowling has been troubled" Latif also said.
Lafit believes that India has depth in batting and the squad and the management have selected the team considering the conditions in Dubai. He believes that India have the upper hand in the tournament against Pakistan.
"One player is not in good form like Babar Azam. But the other players are not in good form. If Virat Kohli is not there, Rohit Sharma is playing Shubman Gill runs. KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer Hardik Pandya is in the lower half. So the depth is too much. This time, we are not talking about the defeat. But this time, the Indian team announced, they did not play after seeing Pakistan's surface. Maybe India's upper hand. Not maybe, Indeed India's upper hand in this tournament and Pakistan versus India" Latif also said.
India vs Pakistan clash will take place in Dubai on February 23 and the upcoming clash will be a do-or-die clash for the Champions Trophy 2025 hosts.