New Delhi: Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh believes that the atmosphere created by the India-Pakistan match in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy is being exaggerated. He has predicted that India will dominate its arch rival in Dubai on 23 February. Harbhajan said that India’s team is much stronger than Pakistan and Pakistan’s performance has not been good recently. So this match is expected to be one -sided. India is in Group A and will face Pakistan in its second match of the tournament. The tournament starts from 19 February.
Regarding the India-Pakistan match, Harbhajan Singh said-This India-Pakistan match is being highly hyped, because there is nothing special in it. India is a very strong team. Pakistan recently lost to New Zealand while playing at home. Pakistan is a very inconsistent team, and if you look at their figures and compare Indian batsmen and bowlers, you will get a clear picture.
Even though Harbhajan admitted that the last performance does not guarantee the future results, but he reiterated his stand that India is far better. He said- When I see both teams, the difference is too much. India’s team looks very strong. Apart from Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan’s team looks weak. If we talk about Babur and Rizwan, then no other batsman other than him would stand. His bowling unit is also not in form.
The former cricketer also stated that most of India’s leading players are in good form before the tournament. He said- India is very strong. Rohit Sharma has just scored runs, Shubman Gill has scored, Akshar Patel is in form. Virat Kohli has recently scored a half -century. Although he is not in the form as we are accustomed to see, I believe he will be successful because he always performs well in big tournaments. KL Rahul’s form is also good.
Harbhajan further compared the recent performance of both teams and emphasized that India’s bowling attack is in good rhythm. He said- If we look at our bowlers, then their form is good. We recently defeated England in the domestic series, while Pakistan lost to New Zealand in the house. New Zealand will play from Pakistan in their initial match, and I think New Zealand will defeat them once again because they know how to bat first and how to make a strong score.
He further said- Pakistan won an ODI series in Australia, which should have given them confidence, but since then they have not seen separate. Rizwan’s captaincy is good, his intention is good, but perhaps the players they have are not as strong. Babur has not scored runs, and although Rizwan and Salman Aga have scored centuries here and there, but the team does not inspire confidence. Even in Pakistan, his former players say that India is far ahead.
