The ICC T20 World Cup is just a couple of days away and Team India has already reached Australia ahead of the marquee multi-national tournament. India, who won the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup, haven't tasted success in ICC tournaments since 2013 and there is a ton of expectations from the current senior men's side to end the trophy drought Down Under.
The Men in Blue have already played two warm-up games, winning one and losing another, and they will now play two ICC-organised practice matches ahead of their World Cup opener against Pakistan in Melbourne on October 23.
The two teams will square off against each other for the fourth time in a span of a year. Pakistan trounced India by 10 wickets in the T20 World Cup match last year in UAE while both teams registered a win against each other in the Asia Cup 2022. The Men in Blue will be desperate to exact revenge after suffering an awful defeat against the Men in Green last year and also for their loss in Asia Cup this year.
Pakistan received a major boost when their star bowler Shaheen Afridi was declared fit to play against India on October 23. The left-arm pacer tormented India's batting line-up last year in the UAE and bagged the Man of the Match award. India's chances of exacting revenge against Pakistan would largely depend on how they tackle the threat of Shaheen Afridi.
Former India captain Gautam Gambhir recently spoke about what should be Indian batters' approach against the star pacer.
"When it comes to Shaheen Afridi, don't look to survive. Look to score runs from him. Because the moment you look to survive, everything becomes really small. Whether it's your backlift, whether it's your footwork, and obviously, in T20 cricket you can't look to survive," Gambhir said on Star Sports.
"I know that he can be dangerous with the new ball, but again, irrespective, the Indian batters need to score more runs, get into better positions, and look to time the balls rather than to hit it. India will be fine because India has got the quality in their top 3 or 4 who can definitely take on Shaheen Shah Afridi," he added.
