Former cricketer Sourav Ganguly warned India about the threat posed by arch-rivals Pakistan ahead of the much-awaited clash between the two sides in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 on June 9 in New York.
Ganguly highlighted India's impressive historical record against Pakistan and at the same time acknowledged the potential threat that Pakistan poses in the T20 format.
“Our record against Pakistan has been very, very good over a long period of time. In the T20 format, Pakistan is probably more dangerous compared to the 50-over (format). We beat them in Ahmedabad when they came to India and we beat them . easily,” he said while speaking at an event in Mumbai.
“India is superior and if they play well, if they play freely and I keep saying the word 'freely' all the time because (in) the last World Cup in Australia, I don't think we played freely.
“Just leave all the cobwebs behind. Don't worry about winning or losing. Don't think about winning the World Cup. Just go and play every game,” he added.
He expressed confidence in India's strong prospects for the T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States and the West Indies and begin on Saturday.
According to Ganguly, India's chances are bolstered by their immense talent and the need to take a brave approach to the game.
“India has a very good chance in the World Cup. They will have to play like a T20 team. There is enormous talent,” he said.
“Play without fear and keep hitting. There is enormous talent, (this is) a team that has (Virat) Kohli, Rohit (Sharma), Surya (Suryakumar Yadav), (Rishabh) Pant, (Shivam) Dubey, (Hardik) Pandya, (Ravindra) Jadeja, Axar (Patel), (Jasprit) Bumrah, Sanju (Samson),” he said when asked about India's chances.
“That's why I say everyone is capable of winning it for India and the only way to do that is (if) they just play freely.
“Play with that extra batsman and hit from the first ball, hit until you have to defend (and) play like the last ball,” he added.
Meanwhile, he also talked about the idea of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as the opening pair.
“It's Virat and Rohit, both of them should open. Virat has had tremendous contact in the IPL, he is a great player,” he said.
Along with Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and the United States, India is in Group A of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Equipment
Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh , Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.
Bookings: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.
Schedule
- India vs Ireland – June 5 (New York)
- India vs Pakistan – June 9 (New York)
- India vs United States – June 12 (New York)
- India vs Canada – June 15 (Lauderhill)
