Former India player turned commentator Ambati Rayudu has picked Canada as the favourites for their 2024 T20 World Cup clash against Pakistan in New York on Tuesday, June 11 as well. He also added that any team can beat Pakistan, considering the below-par shows as well. Notably, Pakistan lost to the USA and India in their first two Group A games as well. They now need to beat Canada and Ireland in their
remaining two group games as well.
On the Star Sports show ‘Game Plan’, Rayudu said, “Definitely Canada, the way they (Pakistan) are playing, anyone will beat them. I am not insulting Pakistan cricket. However, the way they are playing currently, any team will come out on top against them. I will go with a little experience here because Pakistan have been playing international cricket for such a long time and Canada are extremely new. The scales are tilted towards Pakistan only.”
However, Pakistan are fourth in Group A, behind India, the United States, and Canada as well. Even if they win their remaining two group games, they will need either India or the USA to lose their last two games to qualify as well. Ambati Rayudu also replied in the affirmative when he was asked whether batting is Pakistan’s biggest concern.
ALSO READ: Kirti Azad welcomes BCCI’s new directive in central contract
“Of course, I feel they have very little clarity in batting. They are neither playing attacking cricket nor do they have a balanced approach. They are just panicking. They are just searching for fours, sixes and singles. They are searching for everything,” he explained in the same interaction.”No batter is confidently able to stand there and say that if he plays 10 balls, he would hit one or two fours, or take two singles or two doubles. They don’t have a game plan at all,” he further added.
However, Rayudu was further asked whether the Canadian seam duo of Jeremy Gordon and Dilon Heyliger could pose trouble to the Pakistani batters. Notably, Gordon and Heyliger were Canada’s most successful bowlers against Ireland, claiming two wickets apiece to help their side register a 12-run win while defending a 138-run target as well.
“Absolutely, because both hit the pitch hard and bowl short. The Pakistani batters don’t have an answer against that length because they are neither playing the cut nor the pull and are unable to take singles either. Many times the bat is not hitting the ball at all. So I feel these tall fast bowlers can trouble them a lot,” Ambati Rayudu concluded.
