There is no doubt that the match between India and Pakistan always generates massive hype among the cricketing fraternity. Not only fans but even the broadcasters also receive huge traffic as the clash between the arch-rivals turn out to be high-octane affairs with millions of worldwide viewership.
The Indo-Pak rivalry will be on display again when they meet each other in the upcoming T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in Oman and United Arab Emirates (UAE). The highly anticipated contest will be played on October 24 2021 in Dubai.
As the excitement builds up ahead of the mega clash, former India opener Gautam Gambhir has named his India playing XI. Starting with the openers, Gambhir went with KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma.
For the middle-order, Gambhir picked Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant. Similarly, he named Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja as all-rounders.
When it comes to pace bowlers, Gambhir included Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami in his team. While for the specialist spinner position, the cricketer-turned-politician picked Varun Chakravarthy.
“KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma to open the batting, Virat Kohli to bat at No.3, Suryakumar Yadav at No.4, Rishabh Pant at No.5, Hardik at No.6, Jadeja at No.7, Bhuvi at No.8, Varun Chakravarthy at No.9, Shami at No.10 and Bumrah No.11,” Gambhir said on Star Sports network.
The former Delhi cricketer also mentioned that he could’ve picked Shardul Thakur in place of Bhuvneshwar had the Mumbai cricketer was in the 15-member squad.
Notably, Shardul, along with Deepak Chahar and Shreyas Iyer, were placed in the reserves by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) while announcing the squad for the T20 World Cup.
“Probably had I had Shardul Thakur, I would have picked him to bat at No.8 and Varun Chakravarthy at No.9 and then I could have probably gone with Shami and Bumrah,” added the 39-year-old.
Gambhir also explained the reason why he picked two spinners (Jadeja and Varun) in his team. He said: “At least during the start of the tournament. It is going to be the first game. I am sure it is not going to be a rank turner. Probably going deeper into the second half of the tournament, you might pick another spinner but not in the initial half of the tournament.”
Gautam Gambhir’s India XI for the T20 World Cup match against Pakistan:
KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakravarthy, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
