Legendary Indian cricketer Gundappa Viswanath thinks the home team should make a fresh start rather than focus on its envied 7-0 record against Pakistan in ODI World Cups. Rohit Sharma-led side will take on the arch-rivals Pakistan for the eighth time in the marquee event winning all the previous encounters.
In the ODI World Cups, India will be hoping to extend its winning streak over Pakistan on home soil. In 50-over World Cups, India has beaten Pakistan seven times and they will look to extend their home winning streak in Ahmedabad.
Speaking to Sportstar, Gundappa Viswanath urged the Indian team to look at the game as a fresh one despite their given record against India in the ODI World Cups and believes that both the teams will come into the contest with high confidence after winning the first two games tournament and asserted that Jasprit Bumrah form could have given a lot of strength to the Indian bowling going into the Pakistan game.
“It’s a new tournament, and the Indian team looks solid in every aspect. Those (7-0) records are history now, Both teams have had good games so far, having won the first couple of fixtures. But India enjoys an upper hand, not because of the 7-0 record, but because of its team combination,”
“Our bowlers have done well. Returning from injury, Jasprit Bumrah has bowled superbly in the last two games, and now that he picked up four wickets against Afghanistan, it will give a lot of confidence not only to him but also to the other bowlers,” Gundappa Viswanath said.
Jasprit Bumrah delivered one of the best performances in the match against Afghanistan, picking up 4 wickets for just 39 runs. The Indian speedster’s performance with the ball helped the Indian team to bottle up the Afghan batters in the game and the speedster would look to make an impact for the team in the marquee clash against Pakistan in Ahmedabad.
India’s Batting Looks Solid With All The Top Batters Among Runs – Gundappa Viswanath
Gundappa Viswanath feels that Pakistan’s bowling has not been up to the mark in the tournament with their primary pacer Shaheen Afridi not making an impact with the new ball and their spinners have struggled to bowl for the team in the mega event so far and said that India has got solid batting line up with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli batting at their absolute best in the tournament.
“Shaheen is not among the wickets. If he doesn’t take wickets in the first spell, he will be struggling to find breakthroughs later on. Even their spinners are not up to the mark, and on the other side, India’s batting looks solid with all the top batters among runs,” he added.
Virat Kohli And KL Rahul Credits: Twitter“In the last game, Rohit scored a brilliant hundred, and Kohli is always getting runs, and once Shubman Gill returns, it becomes a much more solid Indian batting unit. Everything put together, India has the advantage,” Gundappa Viswanath added.
Shubman Gill has returned to the team after recovering from dengue fever, while Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli batted brilliantly against Afghanistan to finish things for the team quickly in Delhi and the form of the trio would be crucial for the team’s success in the game.