Team India is gearing up to lock horns against arch-rivals Pakistan in a blockbuster contest on October 23 (Sunday) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and both teams are expected to land heavy punches in order to secure an all-important win to start their campaign in tremendous fashion.
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.
Having said that, the task at hand won't be an easy one for India, especially with star Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi declared fit to participate in the high-voltage contest, who will only make the job of Indian openers (Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul) that much more difficult.
After a poor performance in the 2021 T20 World Cup, India changed its approach to batting in powerplay overs where captain Rohit has looked to take on the bowlers to give his team a good start. The ploy has had its pros and cons but as it appears, India and Rohit are going to stick to their game plan.
Commenting on Rohit Sharma's approach in the powerplay, former South African all-rounder Lance Klusener opined that the there is 'no need' for the Indian skipper to 'go any faster'.
"I’m not sure, whether he’s been told to play differently or whether it appears that, or the fact that possibly he hasn’t been as consistent as he would like in the last 25-30 games. But my advice to Rohit would be just to continue how he has been doing in the past," Klusener told News18 CricketNext.
"There’s no need for him to go faster. He was playing easily fast enough, aggressive enough and well enough, not to have changed. So if there has been, some sort of message to him or whatever it is, I think you need to be very careful, especially with your established match winners that role might need to go to somebody else if you’re looking to increase the run rate or take advantage of the power play.
"I think the way Rohit plays he’s a match-winner in that department and the way he goes about his things, and he’s proved that over many years as well. So possibly if they are looking to increase the run rate that does need to go to somebody else," he concluded.
