Former head coach Ravi Shastri suggested that India will start favourites against Pakistan in the upcoming Asia Cup clash as he said that it’s the strongest Indian team to face the arch-rivals since 2011. The legendary India cricketer also hailed skipper Rohit Sharma and said he understands the “terrain” well.
India and Pakistan faced each other four times since 2021 but they were all T20Is. The two teams will clash against each other in the 50-over format for the first time since the 2019 ODI World Cup.
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“I would say India start as favourites. This is their strongest team since 2011, this mix of players. And a captain who is seasoned, who understands the terrain better than most,’ Shastri told ESPN Cricinfo on Friday.
Meanwhile, Shastri also suggested that Pakistan have also narrowed the gap between the two teams in the past few years.
“Having said that, Pakistan have narrowed the gap. Seven-eight years (ago), there was a gap if you looked at the strength of both teams and man to man. But Pakistan have narrowed it down. They are a very good side, so you have to be on top of your game.”
While Indian teams during the last two decades have dominated the proceedings against the cross-border nation, the former head coach wants players not to over-hype the game in their minds.
“That’s what’s important, keeping calm and treating it as just another game. And not over-hype it in your mind that makes you think differently. Your game has to be the same as it would be in any other game. But because of that subconscious pressure, it’s the mentally tough guys who normally get it right,” he said.
Virat Kohli showed time and again how he lifts his game against Pakistan and Shastri feels that even if mentally tough guys go through a lean patch during the season, some of them find that competitive juice at the right time on biggest of stages.
“And never go by form before an India-Pakistan game, because the tough-minded, mentally strong guys might not have done much six months back, but come the India-Pakistan game, they will come (to the fore).
“They know the importance of that game, they know where it can catapult them if they do well. Their juices will be fired up,” Shastri said.
Shastri also praised Babar Azam’s conversion rate in ODIs as the Pakistan skipper has an astounding 19 hundreds from 104 games.
“He (Babar) converts those 30s and 40s starts into hundreds,” Shastri pointed out.
“And it is so important. We keep saying to go out there and face a number of balls, but if one of your top three gets a hundred, you get 300-plus.”
(With PTI Inputs)
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