The BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has refused to admit that the absence of Shaheen Afridi will make a big difference in the India Vs Pakistan game in the upcoming Asia Cup. India and Pakistan will go loggerheads in Dubai tomorrow in their first game in the Asia Cup 2022 and there is a huge build-up to the game in both countries.
The experts are of the opinion that the Indian team is at a slight advantage because Pakistan’s best fast bowler Shaheen Afridi is not available for them and they recently also lost the services of their young all-rounder Mohammad Wasim.
When Ganguly was asked that question in an event of India Today yesterday, he said cricket is not about individuals, it’s about the teams and as far as not having the services of a premium player is concerned, India also doesn’t have the services of Jasprit Bumrah who is India’s premium fast bowler.
No Bumrah for India & No Shaheen for Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 20, 2022
Sourav Ganguly also doesn’t think that either of India or Pakistan is going into the first game as a favorite. According to Ganguly, no team can be an outright favorite to win a game in T20 format because it’s a volatile format.
Using an example of the last IPL season, Ganguly said hardly anyone would have expected that Gujarat Titans would become the champions of the IPL in their very first season itself, but they did become champions because that’s how the T20 format goes. Whoever plays better on the day wins.
After Bumrah & Shaheen, Chameera has also been ruled out of the #AsiaCup. Some curse going around Asian teams’ pacers atm.
Advertisement— Rehan Ulhaq (@Rehan_ulhaq) August 22, 2022
Hardik Pandya’s bowling a major boost to India: Sourav Ganguly
Ganguly also insisted that the fact that Hardik Pandya is being able to bowl for India now has given India a major boost as compared to the last T20 World Cup where he was not bowling and India only had 5 bowling options.
Hardik, since his comeback, has not just shown consistency with the bat, he has already won a couple of games for India with the ball too.
