India Vs Pakistan: Will It Be A Super Sunday?

India captain Rohit Sharma was a cool captain, deftly fielding questions on the eve of India’s opening ICC Men’s Twenty 20 World Cup match against Pakistan at the majestic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. He readily acknowledged that Pakistan has always been a competitive side ever since he played against them in 2007 for the first time and that the supporters would hope to see a good match. Sharma has been the full time captain of the Indian team across all formats since October 2021. At the outset he pointed out that giving security (of their position in the team) has been the biggest change in the last 12 months.  The highest run getter in the Twenty20 format – the second being Virat Kohli — Sharma confessed that the team knows that India has not won an ICC event since 2013, but is not burdened by such thoughts. India and Pakistan have played three matches in the last 12 months, one in the last year’s World Twenty20 and twice in the Asia Cup. Well into his 30s, Sharma will not have the services of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja and so he will have to depend on the exploits of Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh to deliver the goods with ball, and also hope the spinners rise to the occasion.