2022 T20 World Cup Betting : India Face Rivals Pakistan On Oct 23
The 2022 T20 World Cup will begin on October 16 on Australian soil and end on November 13 with the final match scheduled to take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Early-stage qualifier matches are slated to take place from October 16 to October 21, with the Super 12 round taking place from October 22 to November 6. Most cricket fans are looking forward to the Oct. 23 showdown between rival teams India and Pakistan.
Both India and Pakistan have won the T20 World Cup once, with India prevailing in the 2007 T20 World Cup and Pakistan emerging victorious in the 2009 edition, which adds to the excitement as both teams will be looking forward to bagging another trophy in 2022.
India vs. Pakistan – Betting Odds
Cricket fans are counting down the days until October 23, when the rivals will square off at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in this high-stakes match. The two countries share a bitter geopolitical and cultural rivalry, which extends to cricket. As a result, winning this match is equally important for both sides.
At the time of writing, bookmakers have India as the favorite with odds of 1.53, while Pakistan is the underdog with odds of 2.50. The most plausible explanation for India’s advantage appears to be their familiarity with the pitch types of Australian venues, as well as historical excellent performances by Indian batters on Australian soil.
Both teams have seen several of their major players ruled out of the T20 World Cup owing to a variety of fitness issues.
India vs. Pakistan – Injury Updates
Team India’s Jasprit Bumrah and Deepak Chahar will not be seen in action owing to back injuries, while Ravindra Jadeja is not part of the team as he is yet to fully recover after a knee injury.
For Team Pakistan, Fakhar Zaman has been ruled out of playing in the tournament following a knee injury, while Naseem Shah who has battled COVID-19 and pneumonia is expected to be fit and play. The big plus for Pakistan is their main fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi is back after missing the 2022 Asia Cup.
India and Pakistan – Squads
Both sides have updated their rosters with substitute players in lieu of players who have been ruled out, and we are interested to see what the replacements bring to the table and how it impacts the performance of both teams during the World Cup.
The final T20 World Cup squad for both teams has been listed below:
India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh.
Reserves: Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (Captain), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Haris Rauf, Haider Ali, Mohammed Hasnain, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Naseem Shah, Mohammed Nawaz, Mohammed Wasim, Mohammed Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Qadir, Shan Masood.
Reserves: Fakhar Zaman, Shahnawaz Dahani, Mohammed Haris.
India – Keys To Victory
India is renowned for its batting prowess, with players like Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul capable of decimating any squad on their day. KL Rahul has historically been a powerful hitter, whilst Rohit Sharma is known for making big scorers in high pressure games. Virat Kohli finally found his form form in the 2022 Asia Cup after a two year slump, finishing as Team India’s top-scorer and second-best player in the event, trailing only Mohammed Rizwan.
Team India has also had good fortune on Australian soil, setting some of their biggest batting records in Australian stadiums over the last two decades. India will take confidence from their performance on Australian soil and will look to crush Pakistan in front a packed out MCG.
Pakistan – Keys To Victory
While it is true that India has recently been on the losing end when facing Pakistan in the 2022 Asia Cup, is important that Pakistan does not get complacent or they will falter against the men in blue.
Pakistan boasts some great fast bowlers, including Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Mohammed Hasnain, who are going to be a handful at the bouncy MCG. Furthermore, Pakistan’s openers Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan have been in excellent form recently, particularly after the 2022 Asia Cup.
Pakistan will take note of the fact that India’s bowling has been weak in recent T20 games due to the out-of-form bowling of Harshal Patel and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the absence of spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.
Prediction: The Men in Blue have largely trounced Pakistan in ICC matches, but the ruling out of some important Indian players, along with Pakistan’s greatly improved performance since the 2022 Asia Cup, might make things difficult for Team India.
However, knowing the Indian team’s previous performance on Australian soil, we are going to back India to beat Pakistan at the T20 World Cup.
