India and Pakistan will lock horns on October 24 in the Super 12 stages of the T20 World Cup. There has been a massive buildup ahead of the high-voltage contest between arch-rivals. There have been plenty discussions on the key matchups and X-factors in both teams. Veteran Indian spinner, Harbhajan Singh shared his opinion on Aajtak’s ‘Salaam Cricket’ conclave in Dubai saying that the pair of Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy can be lethal against Pakistan’s batting line-up.
Along with Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy, India have two other quality spinners in the form of Ravichandran Ashwin and Rahul Chahar in their squad. However, Harbhajan believes India should go with the duo of Varun-Jadeja in their first encounter against the Babar Azam-led side.
“In my opinion, if India goes with Varun and Jadeja in their opening match, it will benefit them as Jadeja can restrict the flow of runs and Varun can take wickets because the world hasn’t seen much of him. And if this plan works, it doesn’t matter which opposition they are playing against,” the off-spinner said.
Pakistan are weak against spin
Contrary to popular belief that Pakistan batters do well against spinners, Harbhajan said that it is a rumour that they play spin well. Moreover, he gave an example of legendary Australian spinner, Shane Warne while justifying his statement.
“Everybody says Pakistan plays spin well but once Shane Warne had said India plays spinners better than Pakistan as Warne’s numbers are good against Pakistan but not against India. So he doesn’t feel that Pakistan is a good team against spin,” the 41-year-old added.
While speaking on the same matter, the former Indian left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha said that Varun should stick with his strength and look for wickets without worrying about leaking runs.
“Varun is a wicket-taker so he shouldn’t bother about getting hit for a few runs while Jadeja can restrict the run-flow, and if this happens, the duo can have a blockbuster outing,” Ojha asserted.
Furthermore, at the end of the show, India’s leg spinner, Amit Mishra also agreed with Harbhajan and Ojha.
“Pakistan haven’t played Indian spinners yet. Keeping this is in mind, Indian spinners will be very crucial. In fact our own batters struggle against these spinners then Pakistan have a bigger challenge against them. In my view, Varun and Jadeja should be in the playing-XI,” Mishra concluded.
