Rajkumar Sharma, the childhood coach of legendary Indian batter Virat Kohli, discussed the upcoming India-Pakistan Super Four clash on Sunday during the Asia Cup. He noted that Pakistan would be at a disadvantage if India chose to bat first, highlighting the current disparity between the two teams.
Following India’s dominant seven-wicket victory in the first group stage match, the arch-rivals are set to face off in Dubai. This high-profile match could significantly influence their chances of reaching the final.
Off-field controversies arose after the ‘handshake row,’ where Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube walked off without shaking hands with the Pakistani team.
In an interview with ANI, Rajkumar Sharma advised Pakistan to focus
on cricket rather than the handshake incident, stressing that such issues detract from the excitement of India-Pakistan matches. He remarked that India, along with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, are far ahead of Pakistan in cricketing terms.
“The Indian team is in very good form, and the way our batting is, we will surely dominate in the match… The Pakistan team should focus on cricket rather than making an issue of Indian players not shaking hands with them. There is no use of all this, they made such a big deal out of it. The charm of the India-Pakistan clash lessens because of these things. There used to be so much hype about these matches across both sides, but there is no competition between India and Pakistan, India is way better than them. Even Bangladesh and Sri Lanka look way better than Pakistan,” Virat Kohli’s childhood coach was quoted as saying by ANI.
India Bat First & Win?
Regarding the match strategy, the coach suggested that if India bats first, Pakistan would struggle as they are not strong chasers.
“If India bats first, Pakistan will go on the back foot because they are not considered great chasers,” he said.
Rajkumar praised opener Abhishek Sharma for his aggressive powerplay performances but noted that Pakistan would likely have plans to counter him, though execution is key.
“Abhishek has this style, he has been batting really well and dominates right from the start. All teams plan things in their meetings as they can access the video and look at a player’s strength and weaknesses and talk to their coach about it. Then the coaches guide them accordingly. But, it all depends on execution and how much Abhishek can counter them,” he added.
From Pakistan, spinners Mohammed Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, Saim Ayub, and Sufiyan Muqeem are expected to pose challenges. Ayub, having faced three consecutive ducks, aims to redeem himself against India’s strong lineup.
For India, the spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, and Axar Patel must replicate their previous success, where they conceded only 60 runs and took six wickets in 12 overs. Jasprit Bumrah remains a significant threat in any game phase.
Indian opener Abhishek Sharma, the team’s top run-scorer with 99 runs at a strike rate of 225.00, could greatly benefit his team if he survives beyond the powerplay. His aggressive batting could be particularly effective against spinners. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav, after an unbeaten 47* against Pakistan, aims to continue his form. Vice-captain Shubman Gill seeks to justify his return to T20Is with a substantial score following a few poor performances.
(With inputs from ANI)
