Ahead of the India vs Pakistan encounter of the Cricket World Cup today at Manchester, Pakistan PM Imran Khan expressed some of his feelings about the game. Taking a break from matters of politics and governance, the former world cup winning captain of Pakistan cricket team posted a series of tweets on Twitter, where had some advice to offer for the cupper skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Saying that it is going to be a high-intensity match, Khan said that Pakistan is fortunate to have a brave captain like Sarfaraz, adding that today he will have to be at his daring best. The Pakistan PM and former cricketer gave two specific advice to Sarfaraz, first he said that the Pakistan team must opt for specialist batsmen and bowlers because “Raillu Katta” rarely perform under pressure. The second advice was that Sarfaraz must win the toss and opt for bat, unless the pitch is damp.
https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1140150828277387264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Sarfaraz did win the toss as per the wish of Imran Khan, be he chose to ignore the advice about the decision as he chose to field first. Although Manchester saw rains in the last couple of days, it didn’t rain today. The pitch was relatively dry which was kept under covers, although the weather was overcast. In the pitch report, Michael Clarke has said, “Looks like an even pitch for both batters and bowlers. It’s a bit dry, there’s a little grass on the surface but it’s the kind of wicket where it doesn’t matter what you do. Once the batters see off the new ball, it’s a good pitch to bat on”. Therefore, the Pakistan captain went against the advice of former all-rounder and legendary fast-bowler Imran Khan by choosing to bowl first.
Interestingly, Sarfaraz found support from his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli who said that he would have bowled first too. He said that “there’s a lot of attention outside of the ropes, but when you enter the field, it’s about applying the basics of the game”.
Pakistan has never defeated India in a world cup match, and India has done good so far in the game. After a solid partnership by the opening pair of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, India scored 305 runs against 4 wickets in 46 overs and 4 balls before rain interrupted the match.