Follow UsThe India-Pakistan clash is set to begin on September 14, and despite some backlash on social media, especially in India, the buildup for the game has been intense, with a good game being expected in Dubai.
The main reason behind this is the fact that both teams possess a similar variety of spinners - a left-arm orthodox (Mohammad Nawaz and Axar Patel), a left-arm wrist spinner (Sufiyan Muqeem and Kuldeep Yadav) and a mystery spinner (Abrar Ahmed and Varun Chakravarthy). With the Dubai pitch aiding slow bowlers, it would be interesting to see which spin attack comes on top.
Speaking ahead of the game, the Pakistani opener Saim Ayub talked a bit about the team combination and said that if the pitch is dry, which is a pattern in Dubai, Pakistan will play all three of their spinners just like they did against Oman on Friday.
“Regarding the team combination, you can see that we try to assess the conditions,” Ayub said in the press conference, as quoted by India Today.
“On match day, it all depends on how the pitch looks. If it appears drier, we feel spinners will play a key role, so we go with three spinners. If we think a fast bowler is essential, then the coaches decide accordingly.”
Ayub also added that Pakistan are not looking at the past games at all where they couldn’t beat India in the shortest format, and will just try to look forward and focus on the game and winning the tournament.
“I think this is the message of our team management for the last three to four months. The most important thing is to learn from the past and move forward,” Ayub said.
“We don’t want to remember the past and don’t want to focus too much on the future. It is going to be a big match for the people. We do not see it like this as a team. We see that we follow the same process day by day in the next match.
“Memories do not matter. This tournament matters the most. We are not just looking forward to the Pakistan-India match. We are looking forward to win the tournament.”