Follow UsPakistan will need to beat India in Dubai on February 23 (Sunday) to stay alive in the 2025 Champions Trophy, but former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria believes that his side have no chance of upsetting the Men in Blue in the crucial encounter.
Not only will Pakistan enter the contest out of form and underconfident, they also have a terrible head-to-head record against India in this format of late. Since 2015, Pakistan have played India eight times in ODIs and have won only once, with the sole victory coming in the 2017 Champions Trophy Final.
Kaneria opined that India are too strong for Pakistan, particularly due to the incredible spin attack they possess.
“The match is very big, but Pakistan don’t have any chance of winning the match on February 23," Kaneria told IANS, reported News 18.
“India have better spinners, and Babar Azam struggles against left-arm spinners. How will he tackle Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel? On the other hand, Pakistan don’t have a good spinner, and we’ve seen Virat and other batters struggle against the leg-spinner,” he opined.
Kaneria further tore into Babar Azam for his questionable knock against New Zealand, where he scored 64 off 90 balls, chasing 321. The former leg-spinner asserted that Babar ‘cannot justify’ the knock he played against the Blackcaps.
“Nothing should be taken for granted. I’ve seen one thing: when Babar thinks the match is out of their reach, then he tries to score his individual runs. He didn’t show intent while Khushdil Shah did and played a good knock. Although we lost the game but his knock reduced the margin of loss. Babar can’t justify his knock," Kaneria said.
Further previewing the India-Pakistan clash, Kaneria picked Shubman Gill as the Men in Blue’s X-factor.
“For India, Rohit Sharma is batting beautifully, but Shubman Gill’s form can be dangerous for Pakistan. He will be the X-factor for them. Definitely, Rohit and Virat Kohli are also there,” Kaneria said.