 "T20 WC 2024 IND vs PAK: Why Pakistan pacers, big threat to India today?")
Despite the Pakistan cricket team faltering against the minnows USA, their fast bowlers will still be a major threat to Team India at Nassau Cricket County International Cricket Stadium in New York on June 9. The Group A clash between India and Pakistan proved to be very important after the USA made a historic upset on June 6 in Texas.
Coming back to India vs Pakistan match dynamics, the likes of Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Naseem Shah will be licking their fingers seeing how the drop-in pitch at the New York Stadium for the T20 World Cup 2024 has behaved at the venue so far.
Why would Pakistan bowlers be a problem?
The Pakistani pacers have always troubled the Indians, even on flat pitches in Dubai, as was evident during the 2021 T20 World Cup. In 50-over matches, batters still have time to negotiate with the bowlers by playing a few dot balls. However, in T20s, it is really difficult to get the bowlers to commit mistakes by playing the waiting game, and that is when pacers with the ability to swing the ball or bounce you out with sheer pace become dangerous.
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| India batters vs Pakistan bowlers: Head to Head - All T20s | |||||||||
| Batter | Bowler | Inns | Runs | Balls | Dismissals | Average | SR | 4s | 6s |
| Rohit Sharma | Haris Rauf | 3 | 12 | 13 | 2 | 6 | 92.3 | 1 | 1 |
| Rohit Sharma | Mohammad Amir | 2 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0.5 | 14.28 | 0 | 0 |
| Rishabh Pant | Shadab Khan | 2 | 17 | 15 | 2 | 8.5 | 113.33 | 2 | 0 |
| Virat Kohli | Haris Rauf | 4 | 42 | 32 | 0 | 131.25 | 2 | 3 | |
How would the New York pitch help the Pakistan pacers?
So far in the two matches, out of the 25 wickets to fall, only five were taken by spinners and the rest 20 by pacers. The ball has been doing too much on the drop-in pitch prepared by the curator of the Adelaide Oval in Australia. Not only is the outfield slow, but the wicket is two-paced, which makes hitting off both the pacers and the spinners equally difficult for the batters.
On the eve of the match, India captain Rohit Sharma admitted that Nassau County International Cricket Stadium pitch has behaved differently and his team is ready to tackle whatever it will offer.
"With the pitch, I think you know what to expect from the conditions, so you've got to prepare yourself in a way that you know these types of conditions are there," Rohit said.
"What we need to do on these types of conditions. We have had lengthy chats with individuals about what the game plan can be for the batters and the bowlers as well. You can try to control what is in your control, which is to give your best, which is to assess and play accordingly," Rohit added.
On the eve of the match, India captain Rohit Sharma admitted that Nassau County International Cricket Stadium pitch has behaved differently and his team is ready to tackle whatever it will offer.
"With the pitch, I think you know what to expect from the conditions, so you've got to prepare yourself in a way that you know these types of conditions are there," Rohit said.
"What we need to do on these types of conditions. We have had lengthy chats with individuals about what the game plan can be for the batters and the bowlers as well. You can try to control what is in your control, which is to give your best, which is to assess and play accordingly," Rohit added.
For pacers, it has become an even more lethal weapon as they are not only able to beat the batters with swing but also with a change of pace and invariable bounce of the New York wicket.
And in the context of Pakistan's survival in the T20 World Cup 2024, their pacers are likely to come stronger against the arch-rivals.
How could the New York weather help Pakistani seamers against India?
The weather in New York has remained cloudy, and Accuweather suggests that it will remain so throughout the week. Cloudy weather would mean that Pakistan pacers, especially Shaheen, could bring the ball back to the right-handers and trouble the top-order batters like Rohit and Kohli.