India’s ex-batter Aakash Chopra predicts Pakistani squad against India

The much-awaited Pakistan vs India clash in the T20 World Cup is slated to take place on June 9 in New York but there are speculations about who would be playing in the Greenshirts squad.   

Aakash Chopra, who played for India and is currently the cricket commentator predicted Thursday the playing XI of Pakistan for the historic T20 World Cup tournament.  

The 46-year-old said that the star Babar Azam would be leading the team going one-down before Mohammad Rizwan and Saim Ayub commence the batting for Greenshirts.

In the bowling arena, the commentator Chopra went with four pacers due to the pitch, which offers variable bounce, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.

Here’s Aakash Chopra’s Pakistan XI for the match against India:

Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Amir, Naseem Shah.

Pakistan will play their first match of the tournament today against the United States in Dallas. Meanwhile, India have already played one match and registered a win against Ireland on Wednesday in New York.

The highly-anticipated match between Pakistan and India at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York could be marred by a “dangerous” pitch.

Two matches of the World Cup have been played at the drop-in pitch, so far, but there have been clear signs, especially evident from the variable bounce, that the surface hasn’t settled.

Former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz: “It’s not the best of pitches. T20 cricket as a format is generally tilted in favour of the batters. This one is tilted in favour of the bowlers but not for the right reasons.” 

Karthik, who is also a commentator, added: “It is spongy and the odd one bounces over the head. Then it stays low too. Does not make for good viewing. This pitch hasn’t settled. It was made in Adelaide, kept at Miami because the weather is better there and then re-laid in New York two weeks back. Drop-in pitches are new, and has done well, especially in Australia. But here it hasn’t settled.”

“It will be a point people will be talking about ahead of the big match [India vs Pakistan] in a few days.”

Meanwhile, renowned commentator Harsha Bhogle also echoed similar views.

He added: “It could get dangerous. Karthik was really polite when he said it’s not the best. There was one ball that their [Ireland’s] NO. 10 or 11 face. His weight was forward and the ball went over his head. It’s all dangerous at this level.”