IND vs PAK: Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan devise blueprint to nullify threat of Shaheen; Babar and Rizwan

With less than 10 days remaining for India vs Pakistan match in T20 World Cup at Melbourne on October 23, the excitement is starting to build. Usually, any game between the two historic rivals is highly anticipated, although their upcoming meeting will be all the more crucial because it's the opening match for both teams in the World Cup. 

While Pakistan have the likes of Shaheen Afridi who will be making his return from injury, as well as skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, both of whom are firing on all cylinders, the Men in Blue will be without the services of key personnel like Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja among others. 

Despite the threat posed by the star performers in opposition ranks, former India greats Gautam Gambhir and Irfan Pathan have come up with some valuable advice for Rohit Sharma and Co, about how to tackle the threat of Shaheen, Babar and Rizwan. 

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Gambhir feels that Indian batsmen should not look to just survive against Shaheen, who played a key role in Pakistan's win over India in the T20 World Cup in UAE last year. 

"When it comes to Shaheen Afridi, don't look to survive. Look to score runs from him. Because the moment you look to survive, everything becomes really small. Whether it's your backlift, whether it's your footwork, and obviously, in T20 cricket you can't look to survive," Gambhir said while speaking on Star Sports show 'Game Plan'.

He continued, "I know that he can be dangerous with the new ball, but again, irrespective of that, the Indian batters need to score more runs, get into better positions, and look to time the balls rather than to hit it.

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"India will be fine because India has got the quality in their top 3 or 4 who can definitely take on Shaheen Shah Afridi," the former World T20 winner added.

Meanwhile, Pathan advised the Indian bowlers to not give width to the likes of Babar and Rizwan, both of whom have been in the form of their lives for more than a year now. 

"Don't give them any width whatsoever, especially Rizwan, because he's the guy who takes the Powerplay on his shoulders. Just try to get the pace going. Babar takes his time. So, you need to be aware of those situations and those batters," he said.

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"The line has to be on the stumps, with tight lines. And with both batters, the length changes slightly. When it comes to Rizwan, you can afford to bowl more fuller. You can try to hit him beneath the knee roll. This is where your line and length can be," the veteran pacer stated. 

"And when it comes to Babar Aazam, you need to get him out LBW, but your aim should not be on his front leg, it should be behind his leg because he's slightly open. This is where Arshdeep and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar come in with that in-swinging delivery," Irfan added.

With inputs from PTI