- Manjrekar believes conditions in New York would favor India over Pakistan.
- He suggests Indian batters’ technique is better suited.
- He believes Pakistan’s bowling attack may not pose a major threat.
Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 match between Pakistan and India at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, ex-Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has offered a word of advice to the Pakistani team.
In an interview with ESPNCricinfo, Manjrekar highlighted the strength of India’s batting, which he believes could prevail over challenging pitch conditions.
Manjrekar pointed out, “If the pitch stays the same like Sri Lanka vs South Africa, it would benefit India more. They can easily beat Pakistan because Indian batters have the technique to survive. Ones and twos are Virat Kohli’s game. In such conditions, Pakistani batters struggle a bit.”
He also remarked on the condition of the outfield, suggesting that it needs attention due to its slowness and sandy nature. “It is a very, very slow outfield. And you can see every time the ball pitches into the outfield, the sand sort of bursts through. So there’s a lot of sand base there. So yeah, I think there is some work for the ICC to do,” he observed.
Furthermore, Manjrekar expressed his views on the Pakistani bowling lineup, indicating that it may not pose a significant threat to India’s robust batting.
“Pakistan’s bowling is also not like-hit the deck, good length. Haris Rauf might do that otherwise pace and swing as Arshdeep does, similarly, Shaheen Afridi will bowl. If there’s the same pitch, India’s work will only get easier because batting will counter that challenge much better,” he assessed.
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