00:00All right, joining us for more on this is former India captain, our cricket analyst here at India
00:17today, Sunny Gavaskar. Sunny, what do you make of this India-Pakistan encounter in the current
00:24circumstances? I believe you're already in Dubai. We've heard from former players, some have
00:29supported this game, saying that, listen, don't mix cricket with politics. Then there
00:35are those that are really questioning the intention of the government as well as the
00:39BCCI. Where do you stand on India playing Pakistan in the current circumstances?
00:46Well, you see, whatever the personal thinking that you may have, at the end of the day, it's
00:53the government that takes the call. And whatever the call the government takes, I think the
00:58players have to follow that, players in the BCCI. And that's exactly what has happened.
01:05So it doesn't really matter what you and I think. It is, at the end of the day, what the
01:09government wants. And I think that is what is happening in this instance.
01:16So what do you make of the encounter now on the field? Because, as I said, these are unusual
01:22circumstances. Of course, India-Pakistan is always a fiery encounter. But there are enough
01:27people who have said that they will not watch this game. How do you think that will impact
01:31the match on the ground? Do you think it's lost its edge, the usual edge that we see in
01:37India-Pakistan encounter? Or do you think, because of the circumstances at play, this will be an
01:42even more fiery contest?
01:45Well, in terms of the cricket, the cricket is always very interesting. Because teams between
01:51India and Pakistan most times have been well-matched teams. Sometimes, you know,
01:55one team has been pretty superior. And India in recent times have been pretty good because they've
02:00got a very, very good all-around team. So the matches have tended to be, at least in the 50-overs
02:07format, have tended to be a bit one-sided. But the T20 is a different animal, different format,
02:15you could say. And Pakistan have beaten India in the T20 World Cup as well. So yes, I think there
02:21will be quite a bit of interest as far as the cricket lover is concerned. And it doesn't have to
02:29be an Indian or a Pakistani. The cricket lover will get to see some good cricket. Yes, I think it'll be
02:34a fiercely competitive game. Definitely, it'll be a fiercely competitive game.
02:38We'll take a closer look at that encounter. And how is it that the two teams stack up? Now,
02:43remember, both India and Pakistan have played one match each in the tournament so far before they
02:48face off. And both those encounters were one-sided encounters. India beating UAE rather comfortably.
02:55And ditto for Pakistan when they were up against Oman. They also won a one-sided encounter. Now,
03:02low ticket sales calls for boycott. Politics taking center stage. Now, the buildup to the Asia
03:08Cup clash between India and Pakistan has been more about the noise from the outside than the cricket
03:13that is going to be looking at when you look at the cricketing prowess of the two teams.
03:18Saiwai, if I take a look at the ICC ranking, if I take a look at how the two teams have performed
03:24recently, there seems to be a gulf between India and Pakistan. India start as the clear favorites.
03:30Having said that, this is a new tournament. We've already seen both teams play one match each.
03:36Conditions are going to be different. Based on those little performances that you've seen in those
03:43matches that they've played so far, which team are you going to be giving a massive edge to?
03:48What is it that you've picked up in that India match and the Pakistan match?
03:54I don't think you should read too much into these results because, you know, the margin of wins itself
03:58tells you that what kind of opposition there was. And I don't want to also write off the opposition,
04:04because everybody starts, you know, on a note where they're learning. Both UAE and Oman are
04:10at the learning stage and playing against big teams is only going to help their development
04:14if they learn from every game. So I don't think, you know, the results actually tell you too much
04:23what it might have given to the Indians, because the Indian team's been pretty much the same. A lot of
04:29people even in Pakistan would have seen this Indian team and would know the strengths and weaknesses
04:34of this Indian team. On the other hand, there are quite new names as far as the Pakistan team is
04:39concerned, including the captain. And so therefore, for the Indians, they would have had a good look at
04:45some of the new names in the Pakistan team. Because, you know, you can get all kinds of information,
04:51video information, but actually seeing yourself gives you a lot better idea as to the kind of
04:57opposition to expect. One thing that we love doing here, Zahiva, you did mention as to what is it that
05:04India can pick up when you look at that Pakistan team and interesting points made by Mr. Gavaskar.
05:08This is for the very first time you will see this Pakistan team play a big encounter without
05:14Baba Razam, Rizwan. So Indian fans are also not going to be familiar with that team. Yet, what they've done
05:20is gotten a few young players. They've tried to pack their team with a lot of multi-dimensional
05:24players. And I think that's the way T20 cricket is going. And they're trying, in that sense,
05:29to try and ape the Indian team. Because the Indian team has been doing this for some time,
05:33and no wonder they are the current T20 champions. But as I said, there's one thing that we really like
05:38doing here, Zahiva, on India today, is when we look at an encounter, we like to break it into percentage.
05:44So if you're going to look at the ratio, what percentage are you going to give India,
05:48and what you're going to give Pakistan ahead of this match?
05:54I would think that, you know, India would be 60-40. But Pakistan have just won a tri-nation series
06:01there. So they are in flow, they're in rhythm. And Pakistan always has an unpredictable element
06:07about it. They sometimes produce a star player from out of nowhere. And particularly in the T20 format,
06:13it's a matter of just one over that can change the game with both bat and ball. You know,
06:18an over costing, say, 20-22 runs, or an over in which two or three wickets fall can turn the game
06:23around. So it's hard to predict. But I still, being an Indian, I would think that India have
06:29the better chance than Pakistan.
06:30Okay, you said 60-40. Fair enough. What's that one scenario then, in which Pakistan, you think,
06:38can upset India? I'm looking at it from India's point of view. What is that one area that they
06:42have to guard against, they have to be wary of, so as to ensure that the better team on the day wins?
06:48I think the one scenario is in the first six overs, the power play. Always, in any T20 format,
06:56the power play is so decisive, more than anything else. Yes, there are the last four overs that can
07:01change the game as well. But the power play, whichever team wins the power play, if a team
07:06wins both the power plays, the batting power play and the fielding power play, then they are more
07:10likely to go on to win. So we just have to watch out for that. So in India, we like to watch out for
07:14that. That in the batting power play, they don't lose too many wickets, but score at a pretty healthy
07:19rate, maybe get in six overs, about nine runs and over, ten runs and over. If they get that,
07:24that would be fantastic by maybe losing just the wicket. And when Pakistan is batting in those first
07:29six overs, if they can capture two or three wickets, considering maybe 40 runs, then they'll have
07:37had a good start to try to win the match.
07:38So as you mentioned, they've got to be a bit careful, India, in the power play and show that they don't
07:43lose too many wickets there. But I'm just looking at that India scored. I think this is going to be
07:49envy of the entire world when you've got someone like Akshar Patel batting at eight, who knows, maybe
07:55Hardik Pandya, maybe batting at seven. That looks like a formidable batting lineup. Yet, if I take a
08:01very closer look at this team, I did speak about Babar Azam, Rizwan not playing for Pakistan. A closer look
08:07at this Indian team. One name really stands out, which is not part of this team. And that is Virat
08:13Kohli. He, of course, is retired from the T20 format. And why is it that I mentioned Virat Kohli?
08:17Because every time India have been up against Pakistan and any time they've been in trouble,
08:22it's Virat Kohli who's always put his hand up and ensured that India end up on the winning side.
08:27I can think of so many games in the recent past. It happened in the Champions Trophy that India won
08:32again in Dubai. It happened before that, you know, if you'll remember that Melbourne game,
08:38a game where you were dancing. So, all crucial games, it's always been Virat. He's been the nemesis.
08:43How does this then play out for Pakistan now? When they look at this Indian team,
08:47Sansa Virat Kohli?
08:51I'm sure they'll be pretty happy not to have to bowl to him because we've seen some fabulous innings.
08:56What about that Melbourne innings where the match looked lost as far as India was concerned?
09:00And then he hit those unbelievable two sixes of Harris off to take India close to a win.
09:06And then Ashwin finished it. He and Ashwin, of course, finished it towards the end. So, yes,
09:12the thing is, if I were a Pakistani, I would certainly be breathing a lot easier
09:17that they are not playing against Kohli. Kohli the cricketer, not just the batter. Kohli the cricketer.
09:22I'm going back to the Pakistan team. And because we were talking about the
09:26stalwarts from India, no Babur Azam, no Rizwan. But I don't have a similar question for you,
09:32like I had for Virat. In fact, what I want to know from you, Pakistan without Babur and Rizwan,
09:38are they better off or worse off?
09:43Well, like we've seen with the Indian team, when you don't have two big names, sometimes, you know, that
09:48shadow, which is there, which covers the junior players, is not there. So they are out in the sun
09:56themselves. And they have to deal with the sunlight themselves. And it works well. We've seen that
10:01happening with the Indian team without the shadow of some of these big names in the last couple of
10:05years, and particularly the tour of England. Look at the number of players who flowered on their own.
10:11So it could very well happen with Pakistan without the shadow of these two players. Some of the
10:17younger players might come out and play some top cricket.
10:20I'm looking at the playing 11s now. What is it that India can do? And this is a trend that we've
10:24seen with this new Indian team. I call it new because under Sura Kumar Yadav, they've been
10:30setting the stage on fire. Unarguably the best T20 team in the world with the brand of cricket that
10:36they've been playing. But they've tweaked one thing, which usually we haven't seen with the
10:40Indian T20 team. They're only playing one out and out fast bowler. The second fast bowler's role
10:45is given to Hardik Pandya. We saw that in the home series versus England. And then we saw that in that
10:51first game that India played versus UAE. You think in the game versus Pakistan, that's again,
10:56the right strategy continue or you'd want to tweak something. As long as you're winning it,
11:02you know, the combination is always going to be not even worth talking about because you go and see
11:09the pitches, the circumstances, who are you playing. And then by that token, I think you pick your final
11:16playing 11. And India have seen that on these surfaces, it is still pretty hot in Dubai. And so
11:24under these circumstances, the spinners will probably be a lot more effective.
11:27So that's why I think both India and Pakistan have gone mainly with spinners with a top-class
11:32new ball bowler, Shaheen Shafridi and Jaspreet Domna, two terrific bowlers. And also a capable
11:38bowler who's more a batter, but who can use the new ball quite well like Hardik Pandya.
11:44You're right there. You're talking about spinners. Both teams are relying on the spinners. In fact,
11:52the last encounter, Pakistan had four spinners that were operating India in their first game,
11:57had three spinners and all of them have been doing well. I'm putting all the seven together.
12:02Spinners are making merry in Dubai. Is it fair to say then, whichever team and the spinners of whichever
12:09team perform better, that's the team that's going to come out victorious on the day?
12:16Depends on the pitch. If the pitch is not helping spin, then it's got to be the batting. How the
12:19batters deal with the spin, that's going to be the important thing. Look, in limited overs cricket,
12:24batters like the ball to come on to the bat. And the spinners, slow bowlers will mean that the ball
12:29will take a little time to come on to the bat. So the batters really have to make the effort,
12:33really have to make the connections to get the sixes. So whichever team bats better against these
12:40spinners, more than the spinners, because I don't think the spinners will take wickets with the ball
12:44turning square. The spinners will take wickets, maybe with the batters being caught in the deep or
12:48mistiming the shots. And so that it's up to the batters more than the spinners, I think.
12:53Finally, before we let you go, thanks so much for building up this game for us, looking at the
12:58finer points. But as I said, final question. If I was to ask you to pick that one ace in the pack
13:04for India, I know it's a team that is packed with match winners from number one to number 11.
13:10But one ace in the pack for you, looking at the conditions, looking at the opposition,
13:14who are you going for? I think the Indian captain, Siddha Kumar Yadav. Because not only as a batter,
13:23and he's bowled the odd over as well, being the surprise packet and picking up the wicket,
13:29as we saw in Sri Lanka. But I think his overall captaincy, that is going to be the ace in the
13:34pack as far as India is concerned. Right. Mr. Gavaskar, that's a very interesting pick.
13:39Sunny Gavaskar has gone with Siddha Kumar Yadav. And I'd say that's a left field selection,
13:44simply because I was looking at Siddha Kumar's numbers versus Pakistan. They haven't been great.
13:49But Mr. Gavaskar makes the valid point. Now he is, you know, most of those games is when he was
13:55playing under a different captain. Now he's got in charge of the team and he's been playing a
14:00different brand of cricket. We saw the recent IPL where Siddha Kumar Yadav was one of the better
14:05batsmen that we saw in the entire league. Can he carry that form in this particular tournament as
14:12well for India? That's going to be crucial. And let's not forget, he's also going to chip in with some
14:17smart captaincy as we've seen in the last 12 months or so that he's been in charge of this
14:22Indian team. It's India versus Pakistan. A reminder, the game starts 8 p.m. Indian Standard Time.
14:29This is, of course, a T20 encounter. And every time you have a T20 encounter,
14:34the gap between the two teams becomes very close. We will be live with all our analysis,
14:40not just on India today, but also on our digital platform sports today on YouTube. So go on to
14:46YouTube, search for sports today, subscribe to that. And the pre-show, mid-show, post-show,
14:51everything in-depth analysis, you can find all of that, including a lot of other ground reports
14:57that we'll be bringing you from Dubai.
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