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Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has cautioned the Indian team to play Pakistan off-spinner Usman Tariq quite safely when the Indian team takes on their arch-rivals on Sunday, February 15, in Colombo.
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Speaking exclusively to ANI, Harbhajan has asserted that the Indian team is the favourite to win the marquee clash against Pakistan. However, he advised them to play without any external pressure and emerge victorious.
“India will win the match. Pakistan has a spinner (Usman Tariq), he is a good spinner, we have to play him safely. The Indian team is capable; it is a very good team. We hope they play the way they have always played, play without any pressure and wave the flag of victory,” Harbhajan Singh told ANI.
On the other hand, the former Indian keeper-batter Nayan Mongia has asserted that the odds are in India’s favour, thanks to their head-to-head record against Pakistan in the ICC tournaments.
"It will be fun. We hope it will be a good match and India wins. Because the way India is performing, the way they are batting, bowling, the captain leading from the front and this game is all about confidence and Pakistan has lost ICC tournaments seven or eight times in a row. I don't think there is going to be much difficulty because there will be a lot of pressure on Pakistan...Cricket has changed a lot. The youngsters of India have become fearless. An over, a four or a six could change the game,” Nayan Mongia spoke to ANI.
India is currently occupying the pole position in the Group A points table with two consecutive wins against the USA and Namibia. Meanwhile, Pakistan is occupying the second rank with two consecutive victories against the Netherlands and the USA.
India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.
Pakistan squad: Salman Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay, Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Usman Tariq.
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