Ever since the ICC announced the grouping for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021 to be played later this year in UAE, there has been a lot of excitement amongst the fans as archrivals India and Pakistan are placed in the same group.
The former India wicket-keeper batsman Deep Dasgupta in his recent interaction talked about this much-awaited clash between the two neighboring countries. He gave India a slight advantage over Pakistan based on its current form.
“Yes the way Pakistan is playing at this point in time, the current form if you look at it and everything put together, you can say India might be slightly ahead. The other important thing is India would be going straight from IPL,” Dasgupta said in an interview with Sportskeeda.
With the second leg of IPL 2021 will be played in the UAE as well, Dasgupta felt the cash-rich league is both boon and bane for the Men in Blue.
“However, playing at the same venues, that’s an advantage, but that can also be a disadvantage because you are not playing as a team in the IPL, you are playing against each other. End of the day, it’s a team sport and you need to gel as a team. After IPL, that’s your first assignment as a team,” the cricketer-turned-commentator explained.
“The other thing we can’t really neglect is the whole burnout or fatigue because this team which is in England right now will not get a break. From there, they’ll go to IPL, from IPL to World Cup – they’ll be playing non-stop. So you can’t neglect that factor at all,” he added.
As far as the Indian team is concerned, Virat Kohli and Co. are in UK as they are scheduled to take on England in a five-match Test series, whereas a new-look Indian team led by Shikhar Dhawan is getting ready for the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka slated to begin from 18 July.
(With Sportskeeda Inputs)
