Nearly all nations have already chosen their squads for the big ICC competition taking place next month, which is less than a month before the T20 World Cup in Australia. Two teams in particular, who just competed in the Asia Cup, are preparing for the major event by making their final preparations. The top-ranked T20I squad, India, will play the world champions, Australia, on Tuesday, September 20, while Pakistan will face England at home. Prior to the T20 World Cup, the two series are extremely important, and former Pakistan cricketer Bazid Khan set the tone for them in an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times.
Bazid discussed the Pakistani team’s experience in the Asia Cup, the issues they must resolve in the series against England, and the development of their freshly revealed, controversial squad. The seasoned batsman also discussed the new batting structure for T20I cricket in India and the explanation for their disastrous Asia Cup performance.
When he was asked about the disappointing performance by India in recent Asia Cup tournament. He explained, The UAE is a very unusual location to play T20 cricket. Although Sri Lanka batted effectively in the final and won the game, a lot truly hinges on the toss. It is easier to bat second in Dubai, according to statistics, and the ball also tends to get lodged in the pitch there and has a difficult time coming on to the bat. In the UAE, it is virtually always feasible to have an anchor or even a few anchor batters, as was the case even during the World T20.
He added, ” I mean Kohli got a hundred in the last game although he was looking good throughout. But India also had the problem that their top-three weren’t in form at the start of the tournament, but found form as the tournament progressed. So those three didn’t hit the ground running which meant that they lost those games, and all were close matches. And they would look at and think that now with players like Bumrah coming in and working towards that T20 World Cup they are in a better space but I reckon that because a few of their batters weren’t in top gear, that was a huge issue.”
