India might be slightly ahead, but have two challenges to overcome: Deep Dasgupta on T20 WC clash against Pakistan [Exclusive]

Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Deep Dasgupta has opined that India might hold a slight edge over Pakistan in their 2021 T20 World Cup group stage clash, but insisted they will have to overcome two hurdles before that.

India and Pakistan have been drawn in Group 2, as per the pools announced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday (July 16). While Virat Kohli’s men might seem the stronger side on paper, Deep Dasgupta feels going into the showpiece event straight from the IPL might work against them.

“Yes the way Pakistan are playing at this point in time, the current form if you look at it and everything put together, you can say India might be slightly ahead. The other important thing is India would be going straight from IPL. However, playing at the same venues, that’s an advantage, but that can also be a disadvantage because you are not playing as a team in the IPL, you are playing against each other. End of the day, it’s a team sport and you need to gel as a team. After IPL, that’s your first assignment as a team.

“The other thing we can’t really neglect is the whole burnout or fatigue because this team which is in England right now will not get a break. From there, they’ll go to IPL, from IPL to World Cup – they’ll be playing non-stop. So you can’t neglect that factor at all,” Deep Dasgupta said in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda.

India face a packed schedule for the upcoming four months. The five-Test series against England will end on September 14, following which the IPL-bound players will fly directly to the UAE to partake in the second half of the cash-rich league starting tentatively on September 17.

The IPL final is touted to be played on October 10, with the group stage of the T20 World Cup starting four days later. The final of the marquee ICC event has been penciled in for November 14.

As things stand, India and Pakistan are poised to engage in the shortest format for the first time since the 2016 World Cup. Since the two nations no longer play bilateral series against one another, Deep Dasgupta believes the game has the ability to assume jingoistic proportions.

“It’s a big draw for any tournament, for world cricket, or maybe one of the biggest games in sport. And it is also special because it’s become that much more rare now, it happens only in ICC tournaments. It’d be interesting to see India and Pakistan play after quite a period,” the cricketer-turned-broadcaster said.

Will the buzz around the contest fail to reach expected levels now that it has been moved out of the subcontinent? Dasgupta feels that closed-door matches take the venue out of the equation.

“The hype does not really matter because if it had happened in India, I don’t know if it would’ve happened with spectators. If there are no spectators and if it’s for television viewers, I don’t think it’s going to make too much of a difference. But yeah, if it had been in India and with crowd and all, it would have been totally different because it would have been a proper home game for India with the audience being the twelfth man,” he stated.

India have always had the wood over Pakistan in World Cups – they are yet to be beaten by their neighbors in both T20 and 50-over events. India even boast a 7-1 record against Pakistan in T20 cricket. But Deep Dasgupta believes the unpredictability of both the format and the Pakistan team will ensure it won’t be a one-sided affair.

“Definitely not in this format, because T20 is a very fickle format. You got to be at your best, there’s no chance of a comeback if you falter even a little bit in this format. And Pakistan are a good side, it’s just that we don’t see much of them, so we’ll have different perspectives. But it’s a good side, yes they are struggling a bit against England at this point in time, but definitely can’t take them lightly,” Dasgupta, who played eight Tests and five ODIs, exhorted.

Though the schedule for the 2021 T20 World Cup hasn’t been announced yet, reports say the high-octane clash will take place on October 24.

---

You don't blindly pick Kuldeep just because he has dismissed Babar Azam: Deep Dasgupta

Kuldeep Yadav has dismissed Babar Azam in two of the five ODIs [Credits: Cricket Pakistan]

You think of the Pakistan team and one name just hits you in the face – Babar Azam. But the Pakistan captain hasn’t quite been the nemesis for India as he has been for other nations. He averages 31.6 and is yet to register a half-century against the Virat Kohli-led side, and interestingly, he hasn’t played a T20I against them.

In his five ODIs against India, the 26-year-old has fallen prey to spin on three occasions, with Kuldeep Yadav accounting for two of those scalps. But Deep Dasgupta urged people not to go by historical stats because a lot has changed since India and Pakistan last played each other.

“These numbers look very nice but they are historical. Fact of the matter is while these are factually correct, the other side of the story is it’s been a while since they played each other – Kuldeep’s graph has done down a bit, Babar Azam’s gone up since.

“Just because he has done that does not mean you blindly pick Kuldeep. You’ll also have to see how Kuldeep is bowling, and from that perspective, the Sri Lanka series, the IPL will be very, very crucial going forward,” the former Bengal captain told Sportskeeda.

It’s been more than two years since India swatted aside Pakistan by 89 runs in the league stage of the 2019 World Cup. And in all probability, they won’t lock horns again for another two years, until the 2023 World Cup comes around.

While it is disappointing that the two heavyweights don’t play bilateral series anymore, Deep Dasgupta feels we should accept things as they are.

“The reasons are political. How I see it is there are certain things more important than cricket and we have to understand and recognise that,” he concluded.

It’d be advisable to savor what’s on the plate, and hope that the October clash lives up to the age-old competitiveness and compensates for all the months fans haven’t seen India and Pakistan fight it out on a cricket field. An outside chance of them again meeting in the final? Well.