Former South African all-rounder Lance Klusener and current Afghanistan coach, feels India has “too much ammunition” for Pakistan, whom they will face on 24th October in the 2021 T20 World Cup, which will be held in the UAE and Oman from 17th October to 14th November.
Lance Klusener, on the other hand, believes that Pakistan can defeat any team in the world on any given day. Interestingly, India and Pakistan will play against each other straight after their encounter in England at the 2019 ICC One-Day International World Cup.
“India-Pakistan is always a huge, huge game. This clash is not the one to be missed, especially in big competitions like World Cups. The Pakistan team has come a long way of late. They’ve produced some excellent batters. Their bowling will always be competitive. Virat Kohli and his team have got too much ammunition for them. However, if India has a bit of an off day and Pakistan brings their best game, they can easily cause an upset,” said Lance Klusener.
It’s just important for AFG that we bring the best we can: Klusener
Based on political concerns between the two countries, India-Pakistan matches have been limited to a purely ICC event competition, with the very last bilateral match in 2012, when the visiting Pakistani side defeated India in the One-Day Internationals. In ICC tournaments, however, India has a distinct advantage over its arch-rivals, with a perfect 12-0 head-to-head history.
Coach Lance Klusener stated this about Afghanistan, which is in Group B with India, New Zealand, and Pakistan, for the tournament: “We (Afghanistan) are looking forward to victory. It’s always great for us to be playing against the big nations. We don’t really get that opportunity too much in the fixtures that we’ve been having.”
“For us to improve and for us to get better and for us to climb up the rankings, we need to be playing big teams like India, Pakistan, and New Zealand. We’re looking forward to that. It’s just important for us that we bring the best we can,” concluded Klusener.
