Former Indian batter Suresh Raina believes if India wins their opening match against Pakistan, they will go on to win the T20 World Cup. India will enter the T20I showpiece as one of the favorites and their opening clash of the tournament is going to be a high-octane one.
Along with Pakistan, India has Bangladesh and South Africa in Group 2 and they will be joined by two other teams.
Meanwhile, India had lost to Pakistan in the previous edition of the T20 World Cup in the Super 12 stage by 10 wickets after Shaheen Shah Afridi had blown away India’s top order. Furthermore, India won against Pakistan in the Group stage of Asia Cup 2022 but lost to their arch-rivals in the Super four stage.
India and Pakistan have a great rivalry with each other and it is the former who has an advantage in the World Cup matches.
If India wins their opening clash against an in-form Pakistan, then it will certainly give them a lot of confidence.
“Definitely, if we win the opening game against Pakistan, we will win the World Cup,” Raina told NDTV.
Raina said: “The team is doing well right now. Shami has replaced Bumrah, it will give the side a bit of X-factor. We have Arshdeep Singh and Suryakumar Yadav. Everyone is in good form, and Virat Kohli is looking really good. Rohit Sharma is a very good leader, if we win the first match, it will set a good tone for us. Everyone in the country is praying for them and I really want them to win the World Cup.”
On the other hand, Mohammed Shami has been named as Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement. While Raina feels Shami might not be a perfect replacement for Bumrah but believes the Indian selectors have picked the best option they had as the Bengal pacer has been in good form.
“I would not call him a perfect replacement because you cannot replace Jasprit Bumrah or Ravindra Jadeja. They have played consistently for India and they have given performances. But the best option you had, you have selected him. Shami has given good performances, he has been in good form. BCCI has done really well in sending the team to Australia 15 days prior to the tournament. The grounds are big, overall I think the preparation has been nice. We will need to play fearless cricket and show good intent,” said Raina.
India will play their opening T20 World Cup match against Pakistan on 23rd October.
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