T20 World Cup 2021: No team should take Afghanistan for granted, warns Gautam Gambhir

The seventh edition of the ICC T20 World Cup is less than two months away from getting underway. Eight teams will first fight it out in round 1 from October 18 and the real battle between the top teams will begin on October 23. Any team can come up trumps in T20 format thanks to its unpredictable nature and former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has warned teams to be wary of Afghanistan.

He reckons that the Rashid Khan-led side is the real underdog in the World Cup and no team should take them lightly. The Asian side boasts of players like Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman apart from Rashid who perform in the T20 leagues across the world. Moreover, they will also be pumped up to bring smiles on the faces of the people back home with what has transpired in the country in the last could of weeks.

Gautam Gambhir, while speaking in Star Sports show Game Plan, said, “You can’t take Afghanistan lightly as well. I have always been a believer that if you want to talk about one team that is going to be a real underdog in this tournament, that must be Afghanistan. Additionally, they have got people like Rashid Khan, Mujeeb, and Mohd Nabi, you can’t take them players lightly.

“Yes, in a T20 format, anyone can beat anyone because it is a very individual kind of format, and we should not take any team for granted. For example, you should not take Afghanistan for granted. People like Rashid Khan can create upsets.”

Gautam Gambhir excited about group 1 clashes

ICC has divided the top eight teams in two groups and the other four qualified teams will join them for the Super 12 stage later. At the moment, Group 1 comprises of teams like Australia, South Africa, West Indies and England and Gautam Gambhir has termed it as a group of death. He is excited to watch the first set of matches from the group on October 23.

“Group 1 is the group of death, and that’s actually the real group. You’ve got four teams locked in and playing what, on day one of the T20 World Cup, that’s going to be a very exciting Saturday. West Indies have always been very unpredictable with the kind of firepower they’ve got – they can go on to win the third time as well.

“England has also got the firepower; they have probably got the most consistent white-ball team over the last couple of years – after winning the 50-over World Cup. Australia has literally gone off the radar, probably because a lot of main players are missing, but then again, I think they can be very dangerous on that particular day,” he said.