T20 World Cup 2022: 5 Reasons why India and Pakistan might make it to final

The T20 World Cup 2022 was full of twists and turns, be it the first-round games or the Super 12. Some of the teams performed unexpectedly well and made big at the tournament, whereas a few teams, who were formidable factors in the tournament, were knocked out of the semi-final race. The hosts- Australia- for that matter could not defend their title and had to bid adieu to their dreams of winning it this year. After putting up tough competition, New Zealand and England made their way into the knockout stage from Group 1, whereas India and Pakistan made the cut to the semi-finals from Group 2. The Kiwis will now be going up against Pakistan in the first semi-final on November 9 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), and India will take on England on November 10, at the Adelaide Oval. All the teams are in winning form, but the most exciting, intriguing, and interesting matchup for the summit clash would be an India-Pakistan encounter. The arch-rivals have put up a terrific show on display whenever they have met and the games have usually gone till the final over before one of them bags a win. Their campaign opener at the MCG was one such, and fans would surely want something similar to repeat. On that note, let us look at 5 Reasons why India and Pakistan might make it to final India's top-order shows depth India openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma received a lot of criticism for their poor outings at the tournament. While skipper Rohit Sharma’s struggle still continues, KL Rahul has looked promising in the past two games as he notched up two consecutive half-centuries. Completing the top order is Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli, who has three half-centuries from the five Super-12 fixtures. Interestingly, every time that Kohli and KL Rahul notched up a fifty at the tournament, India won the game. While Kohli looks in great touch and Rahul looks promising as well, Rohit Sharma’s form is the question of the hour. The next game is very crucial, and with the long-wanted trophy being at stake, the top order needs to fire from the start to take India to either a good total or help the team defend the score without any difficulties. Pakistan's middle order steps up to the rescue Pakistan openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have not been in the best of form of late. While Rizwan came close to scoring a half-century, falling short of just one run, Babar has been struggling to get going at the tournament this year. The middle-order, which had been problematic for Pakistan, is now the least of their concerns because the middle-order batters now step up whenever the openers fail. Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan especially have been doing really well. Shadab has managed to deliver with the bat and the ball, being the perfect all-rounder for the side. The addition of Mohammad Haris to the side in the last two games proved to be a master-stroke for Pakistan, and they would look forward to continuing him in the middle India's bowling unit emerging as a force The pace trio of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Shami has been brilliant this season, especially the first two. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar brings in the experience, young Arsahdeep brings in new techniques in the powerplay, the best being his ability to swing the ball both ways. The bowlers have been brilliant during the first six overs, and have managed to get their side the crucial early breakthroughs to put India in the driver’s seat. Ravichandran Ashwin’s brilliance with the spin and Hardik Pandya's seam has helped India in the middle order. All these factors have helped the Men in Blue defend their total many times. The game against Bangladesh is one great example, where the bowlers, after struggling throughout the powerplay, bounced back stronger to pose a threat to the opposition and later helped India win the game. Shaheen Shah Afridi gets into the groove Shaheen Afridi entered the T20 World Cup like a storm in the previous season and wreaked havoc as Pakistan advanced to the semi-finals in 2021. After overcoming some serious injury concerns, Afridi returned to the national side for the World Cup this year but could not stand up to the expectations. He was unimpressive in the first three games, as after going wicketless against India and Zimbabwe, he picked up just one wicket against the Netherlands. But in the remaining two games against South Africa and Bangladesh, he put up a destructive performance and marked his comeback. After scalping three wickets against the proteas, Afridi went on to register his best bowling figures of 4/22 in the game against Zimbabwe. His current form will be crucial for Pakistan as they aim to defeat New Zealand in the upcoming semi-final fixture. Suryakumar Yadav- A formidable force India’s middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav is at the peak of his career, and he has achieved the best at exactly the right time. The current No. 1 T20I batter has been a blessing for the Indian batting unit this year, which is the reason why the Men in Blue have posed a threat to other teams. He now has more than 1000 T20I runs from just this year and has been India’s savior in a couple of matches too. The team can depend upon him for scoring the major chunk of runs. Yadav has been playing cricket with complete freedom, which has helped him achieve milestones. He left everyone astonished with his knock against Zimbabwe, where he went on to score an unbeaten 25-ball 61* run knock to lead India to a big total. His batting abilities and 360-degree hitting skills make him different from the rest of the bunch and that is why he is India’s biggest asset currently.

Topics

Featured Section

Current Series

Cricket Fantasy Tips

Cricket Stats

IPL Teams

ICC Rankings

Interviews

Twitter Reactions

Cricket Appeal

Social Tracker

More Links

# Follow Us

Other Sports

T20 World Cup 2022: 5 Reasons why India and Pakistan might make it to final

While Pakistan face New Zealand in first semi-final, India face England in the second semi-final.

Latest Articles

November 22 Social Media Trends - Trending tweets, memes

AUS vs IND: Kohli's batting dismissal analysis in Australia

WBBL 2024: Match 38, PS-W vs HH-W Match Prediction