India has not won an ICC title since the 2013 Champions Trophy under MS Dhoni.©AFP
India’s struggles in mega-tournaments have not been hidden from the world and ahead of the blockbuster T20 World Cup 2024 to be held in West Indies and America, former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has expressed concerns that his team will be able to reach the finals. He said that he is lagging behind in terms of achieving good results. He has participated in ICC events for several years and praised the current team as “skilled” with a “strong bowling line-up”. In last year’s ODI World Cup, India remained unbeaten until they succumbed to Australia in the summit clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
India has not won an ICC title since the 2013 Champions Trophy under MS Dhoni. They missed out on winning the World Test Championship twice in his three years. In his last T20 World Cup, the Men in Blue lost to England in the semi-finals, ending their campaign.
The former Pakistan batsman praised India’s current pace attack led by Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami, and praised the high quality of Indian cricket.
“It’s a different Indian team now, a skilled team with a very strong bowling line-up. The batting has always been strong, but the quality of the fast bowling has really elevated their game. Bumrah, Shami, We have bowlers like Siraj, we have everyone.” “Hardik Pandya’s rounding ability has improved the quality of Indian cricket a lot. His ability to handle pressure has also improved,” Misbah told Star Sports Press. He spoke on Room Show.
“Playing a lot of cricket gives them exposure and boosts their confidence. To break this, the opposing team needs to put in a lot of effort, which is a difficult task. For example, against Australia Look, they overcome most of these hurdles with their strong mental strength. Even when important matches and high-pressure situations occur, they manage to remain calm,” he added.
The 2009 T20 World Cup winner stressed that despite India’s good start, they lack the strength to finish the tournament at the top of the table. “In contrast, Pakistan, India and other Asian teams face immense pressure from their huge populations and high expectations. This pressure can have a significant impact on performance. India I’ve been struggling in the last few mega events, but I wasn’t able to finish strong,” Misbah said.
The veteran player further added that India needs to find a solution to deal with the pressure of the ICC finals. “For Australia, this is not that big of a problem, but for Pakistan and India, playing under such intense pressure is a big challenge. It will be interesting to see how these teams cope in the future. “It’s interesting. India in particular needs to find a way to overcome this growing pressure if it wants to succeed in the upcoming events,” he added.
Sharing his thoughts on comeback pacer Mohammad Amir’s inclusion in Pakistan’s T20 World Cup squad, Misbah said: “We are talking about the Champions Trophy that took place in 2017. We are talking about the Mohammad Amir that we witnessed before and the Mohammad Amir that we will now see in the ICC T20 World Cup. You will definitely see the difference then. Previously he had more pace, swing and zip, but compared to the current scenario it will be less. But the advantage now will be the experience he has.
“I think he can do better at the moment. He can take advantage towards the end of the innings, but initially we might not see the same effect that we saw in the 2017 Champions Trophy. But Amir What we have seen from the experience of ‘slow matches, stumps outside the office, bowling yorkers and most importantly, dealing with pressure in the big match against India. It’s when we won matches before on important stages and were able to win matches that were going to be even more important. Same goes for Amir’s India vs Pakistan match and other matches,” he concluded.
India will face Ireland in the opening match on June 5 before facing arch-rivals Pakistan in the second match of the T20 World Cup in New York on June 9.
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