Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan said that there are a lot of expectations from the Virat Kohli-led Indian cricket team at the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, but he feels the current players have enough experience to handle the pressure, thanks to the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Pathan, who was part of India’s successful campaign in the 2007 T20 World Cup, recalled that nobody expected anything from the 2007 team and they also hadn’t much experience of playing in the T20 format, but still, they stunned the world by winning the trophy under MS Dhoni's captaincy.
However, things are now different, as the current Indian players play in the IPL and have plenty of T20 matches under their kitty, and Pathan believes that it will help Team India handle the challenge of expectations in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE and Oman.
Pathan said on the Star Sports show 'Class of 2007', “I think nobody expected anything from the 2007 team, but there are a lot of expectations from the current World Cup squad. The new team has expectations and experience. When we entered the 2007 T20 World Cup, we hardly had the experience of playing in the T20 format.”
He continued, “But now, things are different, people play IPL, they play a lot of T20 games and there are a lot of conversations around the T20 format. In 2007, there was no social media, but now there is social media, so there are a lot of conversations around performances and memes. I think the boys know that there are a lot of expectations from them and they know how to handle it.”
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Meanwhile, veteran wicketkeeper-battler Dinesh Karthik also admitted that the current Indian players are expert at handling high-pressure situations as compared to the 2007 T20 World Cup-winning squad, and the biggest reason for that is the IPL, where players get used to playing in high-pressure situations.
Karthik said, “It's completely different in terms of handling pressure, but one thing is very different today to what it was in 2007 is the fact that they have plenty of IPL experience and they have played in high-pressure games and they have played in matches which are - when it comes to pressure, it's second to none.”
Noteworthy, India will kick-start their T20 World Cup 2021 campaign against Pakistan in Dubai on October 24.
