Former India pacer RP Singh believes there will be a lot of pressure on the players during the high-voltage clash between India and Pakistan in the upcoming T20 World Cup. The marquee event is set to kick off on June 1 in the USA and the West Indies. One of the greatest rivalries in the history of cricket, India and Pakistan, will write a new chapter in their story on June 9 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York. While India’s World Cup-bound players were engaged in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season to prepare for the tournament, Pakistan played the T20I bilateral series against New Zealand, Ireland, and England.

They drew the five-match T20I series against New Zealand (2-2), won the three-match series against Ireland (2-1), and lost the four-match series against England by 2-0.

Despite Pakistan’s dwindling form, RP Singh believes that things change during the World Cup and the level of pressure will be different on the players.

“Pakistan is also a good team. They played against Ireland and suffered a defeat. Things change during the World Cup. The match is always high-voltage so there is a lot of pressure on the players. Indians’ performance in the World Cup has always been good. We just lost one match last time, and were dominant throughout,” RP Singh told the media during the jersey launch of the World Championship of Legends team India Champions.

The level of pressure on the players and the emotional connection of the fans were visible during their last encounter in the World Cup.

In 2022, the Men in Green were far ahead in the game against India. The Men in Blue needed 28 runs off a mere 8 deliveries to walk away with a victory.

With Virat Kohli on strike against Haris Rauf, the stalwart batter took a step back and struck a towering six right over the head of the Pakistan speedster. In an emotion-packed game, commentator Gerard Whateley delivered the iconic “That is a shot of an emperor” line to describe Kohli’s masterclass.

He tonked another maximum on the next ball, which laid the foundation for a successful 160-run chase for India. The match lived up to its hype, and the fans will be expecting another cracker of a match.

Before the epic clash between the two cricketing giants, India will take on Ireland in their tournament opener on June 5. Pakistan will meet the USA in their opening clash on June 6.

The fans will be expecting a similarly intense clash between the two Asian Giants that keeps them on the edge of their seats.

India T20 WC Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

Pakistan T20 WC Squad: Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan.

Punjab Kings didn’t utilise young Arshdeep Singh properly during the just-concluded IPL but the left-arm pacer can be very effective during the death overs at the T20 World Cup along with Jasprit Bumrah, reckons former India pacer Rudra Pratap Singh. The left-arm seamer got 19 wickets from 14 games but an economy rate of 10.03, primarily due to the ‘impact player’ onslaught left him a bit dazed. RP Singh, India’s bowling hero in the 2007 edition of the T20 World Cup in South Africa, said he will prefer Arshdeep over Mohammed Siraj.

“If we assess Arshdeep on the basis of his IPL performance, I think he hasn’t been utilised well,” RP Singh said while replying to a PTI query during a promotional event where the Indian team’s jersey was unveiled for the inaugural World Championship of Legends.

“The utilisation of the bowlers also depends on their captain, in which conditions he uses them, in which situation he makes them bowl and how best that he thinks his bowler is.” RP Singh, feels that wicket at Nassau County will be on the slower side and Arshdeep rather than bowling pacey length deliveries should focus on cutters.

“Talking about the length on the tracks in USA during an early morning start, as per my understanding, there should a bit of slowness in the wicket. So, the ideal length will be somewhere around just short of good length.

“There will be not a lot of swing for the bowlers but the bowlers with variations, not only just yorkers but also slower ones, leg and off cutters. These deliveries will be utilised a bit more by Arshdeep, so the success rate will be automatically higher for him and that’s what I understand the wickets in the US.” RP feels that Jasprit Bumrah should ideally bowl three overs in the back-10 as that would put pressure on opposition batting unit.

“Death bowling is really important in T20 cricket. Bumrah may bowl three overs in the death. He is our mainstay there. My preference alongside Bumrah in the death is Arshdeep over Siraj because of the variations he has. I think Siraj can be impactful in a game when he is bowling with the new ball. Otherwise, it should be Bumrah and Arshdeep.” Arshdeep, as a left-armer, will always create those difficult angles for right-handers and hence becomes an important cog in the wheel. The World T20 reserves also has another left-armer in Khaleel Ahmed.

“Left arm pacers are always an advantage especially against right-handed batters. It is not like two or more left-arm seamers can’t play together. Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and I have played in multiple games together.” For the perfect balance, Hardik Pandya needs to bowl his full quota of overs as it would give the team the luxury to play three specialist spinners and a chance to include Yuzvendra Chahal alongside Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja in the eleven.

“Hardik bowled in the IPL and bowled four overs so there’s no injury scare. Hardik’s bowling will be important and he will have to bowl all his quota of 4-overs. If Shivam Dube bowls too, then it will be an added advantage for India ahead.

“Shivam may not play some matches initially but whenever he plays, he will perform well and score runs for India.”