One of the fastest bowlers in world cricket, Shoaib Akhtar has opined that it would not be easy for Pakistan to win against India this time around in the T20 World Cup 2022. Pakistan put up a dominating performance against India in the last edition of the tournament,  registering a comprehensive won over their arch-rivals. The team put India under pressure straight away after a fiery spell from Shaheen Afridi, who set the stage on fire.

After restricting India to a modest total, Pakistan chased it down without losing a wicket as skipper, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan played dominating cricket. However, Shoaib Akhtar believes that India would be much more planned this time around in the T20 World Cup in Australia when the two teams meet on October 23.

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During a recent chat with Cricket Pakistan, Shoaib Akhtar said, “India will come up with proper planning this time around. It will not be easy for Pakistan to beat India in T20 WC this time. Predicting match results now is quite difficult but Pakistan should bowl second as [the] pitch in Melbourne offers bounce to fast bowlers.”

Under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, Team India will be squaring off against Pakistan on October 23 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia. India generally enjoy a big support in the 100,000 strong ground. Shoaib commented on the same and said that he believes that the match will be attended by a record number of spectators.

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Elaborating the same, Shoaib Akhtar said, “I believe the crowd will be bigger this time. Around 150,000 fans will watch the match line in Melbourne. Out of which, 70,000 will be Indian supporters.”