Press "Enter" to skip to content

T20 World Cup 2021: THIS pace legend predicts India vs Pakistan final

The International Cricket Council (ICC) have already set up a blockbuster clash in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021 in October by clubbing arch-rivals India and Pakistan in one group for the initial stages of the tournament. The World Cup, which was postponed by one year due to COVID-19 pandemic, will see 12 teams divided into groups of two in the main draw, after the qualifiers, which will be followed by the semi-finals and the final.

Former Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar, who never minces his words and remains a vocal critic of Pakistan cricket, feels the final will be a repeat of the inaugural edition in 2007, with Virat Kohli-led India facing-off Babar Azam’s Pakistan. However, Akhtar made a shocking claim that Pakistan will storm past India in the summit clash.

“I have a feeling Pakistan and India will play in the T20 World Cup final and India will lose to Pakistan. Conditions in UAE will favour both India and Pakistan,” Shoaib Akhtar told Sports Tak on YouTube.

Pakistan are recently coming off a 2-1 T20 series loss to England and 3-0 whitewash to second-string England side in the ODI series. India have not lost to Pakistan in any World Cup, be it in the ODI or T20I format. Kohli & Co. have an 11-0 record versus their arch-rivals in limited-overs ICC tournaments.

On the other hand, they didn’t face each other in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC) and aren’t going to square off with each other even in the second cycle’s league stage.

The last time India and Pakistan’s senior men’s team faced each other was in the round-robin stage of the 2019 ODI World Cup, where the former won by 89 runs (DLS method). Their last T20 World Cup face-off resulted in India’s 6-wicket win over Men-in-Green in Kolkata in 2016 edition. Nonetheless, Akhtar’s claim can come true as India’s last defeat versus Pakistan in an ICC tournament final, during the 2017 Champions Trophy summit clash defeat by 180 runs.

Zee News App: Read latest news of India and world, bollywood news, business updates, cricket scores, etc. Download the Zee news app now to keep up with daily breaking news and live news event coverage.

Source: Zee News