Pakistan cricket team will be led by Babar Azam for the first time in an ICC tournament.
India and Pakistan will be up against each other once again in an ICC event on Sunday (October 24). The T20 World Cup 2021 match is going to be played in Dubai and the fans from both sides are eager to witness the contest for the first time after the 2019 World Cup.
Although India has a 100% record over Pakistan in the ICC tournaments, it won't matter when they will take the field on Sunday. An India-Pakistan match always starts from scratch; burying down all the past outcomes which hardly matters.
Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag is looking forward to the high-spirited match and he has also named an Indian player who should be the first pick in the team for the face-off against Pakistan. Sehwag picked Hardik Pandya as someone who could change the match alone with his ability.
"He'll be on my team. The kind of batter he is, if he clicks, he'll make the match one-sided, and finish it. He has the ability, which he has shown many times. Yes, if he was bowling fit, that would have been the icing on the cake...", he said on Cricbuzz.
Shardul Thakur was included in the main squad in place of Akshar Patel after Hardik's availability as a bowler in the tournament was doubtful. But Sehwag is backing Hardik to be in the playing eleven with five mainstream bowlers.
"You should go with five bowlers plus if Hardik Pandya or someone else from the top-order bowls a few overs, it'll be the perfect team for me... His batting is surely a concern. If he's not in form or not batting well in the nets, then you can maybe see another batter, otherwise, he'll be my first pick," he added.
Hardik hadn't bowled for Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2021. But Rohit Sharma, ahead of the warm-up match against Australia, was hopeful of seeing the Baroda cricketer bowl in the tournament at some stage.
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)