Cricket World Cup is here, and the tournament has got to a great start with many 'firsts' for the associate nations upsetting the big guns, it is all boiled up, but things will eventually heat when the calendar displays 9th June 2024.
Yes, it is time again for the mega clash of the T20 World Cup between India and Pakistan, the arch-rivals will be locking horns at the Nassau County ground in New York.
The Two giants have clashed seven times previously before this, with the Men In Blue winning a record 6 times
With the game set to be played at Nassau County, the pitch will be a tough one to bat on, especially with the fact that the deck is already under a lot of scrutiny from the Cricketing World.
Let's have a look at the top 5 matchups that will impact this game
A key matchup that could well be the deciding factor of this game, talking about the matchup the Indian fans won't enjoy this match-up one bit. That incoming Yorker at the Dubai International Stadium in the 2021 edition is still remembered by many.
In terms of stats, Rohit has batted twice against Shaheen Afridi in T20I Cricket where he scored just 4 runs in 6 deliveries with one dismissal. Rohit tends to throw his bat at the ball quite often or else stays rooted to the crease which just locks up his body.
This will be the most anticipated battle to watch out for as Kohli and Amir will be facing each other after a gap of 5 years, Amir has got the wood over Virat Kohli when the important ICC is concerned, Amir got him out in that Champions Trophy Final, Kohli was dropped the previous delivery but nicked one straight to the point fielder.
In the 2019 ODI World Cup, albeit was a wrong decision, Kohli walked off thinking he had edged a Mohammad Amir delivery to the Wicket Keeper, Replays later confirmed that nothing was visible on Ultra Edge. In terms of T20s Kohli hasn't been dismissed by Amir as of today and Indian fans would hope that the record remains intact.
Both these guys were at their peak in the 2022 T20 World Cup, cut to 2024 both of them struggling in their ways, Surya had an indifferent IPL season to cap off, whereas Haris Rauf was injured and ruled out of the PSL. In T20I Cricket these two giants have collided only one time in 2022 where Haris Rauf made Surya dance to his tunes which led to SKY eventually nicking one straight into the hands of the keeper. Now both searching for form this will be one of the most mouth-watering clashes from this game.
The best batter from Pakistan against the best bowler from the current lot of International bowlers Jasprit Bumrah are all set to go against each other in New York. Bumrah though hasn't dismissed Babar yet, Babar smashed Bumrah for 13 runs in his 10 balls with one boundary in the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup. Jasprit will be eager to get the prized scalp of Babar Azam.
Both guys are the lynchpins of their teams, Rizwan's job is to give a good start to the team, whereas Arshdeep's job is to provide wickets upfront to derail the opposition. Arshdeep has conceded 23 runs in as many deliveries to Rizwan, he has got him out once in the 2022 edition of the T20 World Cup.