As India prepares for their second game of the 2021 T20 World Cup, they are still bound to be scars that remain from India’s defeat to Pakistan in the opening encounter. The Men in Blue will be wary of not losing wickets in the powerplay as they did to Shaheen Afridi last Sunday.
During India’s clash with Pakistan, Afridi gave the Men in Green a dream start as he dismissed the Indian opening pair of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in his first two overs within the powerplay. Later Afridi also took the wicket of Virat Kohli on his way to winning the Man of the Match award.
India’s vulnerability against left-arm pace has not gone unnoticed with New Zealand pacer Trent Boult who is in the mood to repeat the Pakistan pacer’s heroics.
Speaking ahead of the match Boult sent a word of warning to the Indian camp saying, “The way Shaheen bowled the other night. From a left-armer, watching on I thought it was amazing. Hopefully, from my point of view, it swings around a little bit and I can mirror what Shaheen did the other night.”
The 32-year-old however praised India’s batting unit and recognized the threat they possess in the shortest format of the game.
“India brings a lot of challenges, quality batting lineup. We just need to be clear with our options on how to shut these guys down and obviously give them a bit bigger chase as possible,” said Boult.
He added, “India have quality batters so getting early wickets is definitely the focus for us as a bowling group.”
Boult has previously hurt Indian batsmen in big games notably the 2019 World Cup semi-final where he dismissed Virat Kohli for just 1 as India crumbled to a score of 5-3 chasing 240.
He later had dismissed the high-flying Ravindra Jadeja to take the Kiwis on the brink of victory and a place in the World Cup final.
