The Super 12 of the 2022 ICC World T20 begins with host Australia taking on New Zealand in the opening match on Saturday, but for all practical purposes, the event actually kicks off on Sunday with India playing Pakistan. At least for cricket fans in the subcontinent.
This age-old rivalry, which, at times, has appeared jaded and a tad overstretched, is a mandatory showpiece of any ICC (International Cricket Council) event, including being its biggest money churner. There are over 1.6 billion people in these two countries together — a lot of eyeballs for a sport played only by a few countries.
The two countries have played six times in seven World T20 editions over 15 years — including that maddening bowl out in Durban followed by Joginder Sharma’s last over in Johannesburg, both in the inaugural edition in 2007. India won all encounters except for the last one, in UAE in 2021, in which Pakistan finally got a result in their favour, and did it in style with a 10-wicket win.
The forthcoming one is difficult to predict, a dilemma that’s risen out of Pakistan’s last year’s win. For long, India’s win over Pakistan in these ICC World Cups have been taken for granted, a statistic that inspired Star Sports’ brilliant "Mauka Mauka" advertisement before the 2015 (50-over) World Cup. But the UAE result, the overwhelming nature of it, changes things up now.
Statistically, India have a better chance in Sunday’s match. While both teams have lost only one of their last five T20Is, India’s record in this format this year (23 wins against eight losses) is better than Pakistan’s (10-9). In head-to-head numbers, India lead 7-3 against Pakistan — both teams won one of their two Asia Cup matches in August-September.
While India have lost just once in the four T20Is they have played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) — the venue for Sunday’s match — Pakistan have lost the only T20I match they played at this centre. With Virat Kohli back among runs, Suryakumar Yadav playing at a different level to others, India seem to have a better side on paper as opposed to Pakistan, who have a lop-sided dependence on their opening batters. The Pakistani pace attack, as always, is superior to India’s, particularly in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, but T20 is a format that favours the batter.
The main snafu to this whole package of entertaining that awaits on Sunday is the weather. October is too early in the season for cricket in Australia. It’s still spring and rain is a common occurrence. Already a bunch of warm-up matches have been abandoned without a ball being bowled. There is an 80 per cent chance of rain on Sunday and if that happens, expect the tournament’s showcase match to be either washed out or played out in some dramatic, curtained fashion. There are no reserve days for group matches and a minimum of five overs need to be bowled for it to be considered a legitimate match.
India have not won a World Cup since 2011, when they won the 50-over format at home. They have not won the World T20 since the inaugural edition in 2007, a surprising fact for the team with the largest following of cricket in the world, with the richest administrative body in the sport and for the host of the format’s finest competition, the Indian Premier League (IPL). Some of that expectation — of winning the title — gets muffled in the Pakistan encounter. So much gets invested in this one match — emotion, expectation, energy — that a win here seems to be satisfactory enough to dull any loss of title chances.
“It’s been a while since we have won the World Cup,” India’s captain Rohit Sharma told bcci.tv recently. “Obviously, the motive and the whole thought process is to win the World Cup, but we know that we need to do a lot of things right to get there, so one step at a time for us.”
India is ranked No. 1 in the world in the format — having played more matches (55) than any other national team in the period of calculation. Part of the reason for their lack of success in World Cups could be this expectation. When they won the 1983 World Cup (50-overs) and the 2007 World T20 (with an experimental team), there were no hopes from the team. In 2011, the event was played in India, a natural home advantage that helped.
Leading up to this 2022 event, the Indian team experimented heavily with their team formations and players, juggling them around in order to find the right men to fit into the right slots. After all of that, when Bumrah got injured, he was replaced by Mohammed Shami, who last played a T20I in November 2021 and in an eight-year career, has played 17 matches.
Their batting order keeps shuffling, their bowlers have struggled in the death overs in recent past and Kohli’s lack of runs till recently was a major stumbling block for a team that has learnt to rely heavily on him.
“One thing is for sure. If the Indian team does not win this T20 World Cup, it won’t be for lack of preparation,” Sunil Gavaskar wrote in a daily. “Not only have they gone to Australia almost three weeks before their first game of the tournament, they are also playing practice games against good sides that should get them ready for the tournament. The old saying, "if you fail to prepare then prepare to fail" will not apply to this Indian team as, apart from these games in Australia, they also played six T20 matches at home and won four out of those to show that they are tuning in nicely for the big event.”
Besides the wet weather, there is also the bouncy wickets of Australia that is outside of Indian batters’ comfort zone. Their test will start on Sunday, against Haris Rauf, who has most wickets for Pakistan this year, 19-year-old Naseem Shah who hits speeds of 150 km per hour regularly and the 6ft, 6-inches tall Shaheen Shah Afridi. Perhaps, playing each other in their opening match is not the best start for the players, but it sure will kickstart the tournament strongly — unless, of course, it rains a lot.
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