2024 T20 World Cup: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today’s India vs Pakistan match
Fans of Indian cricket born in the 2000s have often complained about not being able to witness India and Pakistan playing Tests against each other. The political tensions and the haphazard rulings of the two boards have meant their time against each other has often been limited to just white-ball ICC tournaments.
Sunday might be the first time it changes. The two teams will lock horns in the group stage of the 2024 T20 World Cup in a game played by T20 rules but at a ground that has produced matches that are comparable to the last days of a grueling Test.
Bowlers have dominated using the uneven bounce and excessive seam movement while batters have been reduced to just memories of what we saw in IPL 2024.
Below, we predict three bowlers who are the best placed to use this in their favor and pick up the most wickets in the match.
#3 Hardik Pandya
It might seem like a foolish, left-field choice but it's backed by facts. Hardik Pandya's bowling form since the second half of IPL 2024 has been brilliant. He picked up seven wickets in the last five matches and backed it up with a three-wicket haul against Ireland in the first match of the T20 World Cup.
The common thread is the pitch. New York supports hard-length bowling, especially if you can use cutters and mix them with pace while landing the ball on the seam.
Hardik gives just that to India and could be quite useful against Pakistan. He has a brilliant record against the Men in Green in T20s too - 11 wickets in five innings at an average of 12.
Most of the current Pakistani batters have got out to him in the past, struggling to manage his skid/extra bounce. On this pitch, we can certainly see a repeat.
#2 Naseem Shah
Pakistan have a threatening pace attack that can open India up on the New York track. The best of the lot is the youngest of them - Naseem Shah. The tall right-arm quick is by far the most consistent and threatens both edges more than Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah, and Haris Rauf.
He'd be India's biggest headache, with most of the top-order batters likely to struggle against his pace and seam movement starting from the powerplay. Don't be surprised if Babar Azam lets Naseem bowl three up front.
Naseem also has an excellent record against India with four wickets in three matches (he's been unlucky in some games too), and is yet to go wicketless against the Men in Blue in T20s.
#1 Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah is on this list, just because he's Jasprit Bumrah. He doesn't need any past records or form to back him (even though both are in his favor too), he's now past that stage. Pakistan would know that he's their biggest obstacle and to counter him, they'll need not only their best game but also a lot of luck.
Bumrah showed against Ireland that his cheat-code-like bowling goes up a notch at this surface. He'll relentlessly attack the Pakistani batting order with his hard lengths, making the ball move both ways and drawing out edges.
Even if he doesn't pick up a lot of wickets in the powerplay, floodgates might open at the death, with Pakistan compromising batting depth for bowling efficiency.