‘Whoever bowls better to them will be…’: Ex-India star on Babar Azam, Virat Kohli ahead of IND vs PAK match

Former India all-rounder, Irfan Pathan, believes that the performance of Virat Kohli and Babar Azam will be crucial to India and Pakistan’s chances, respectively, in their Asia Cup 2023 clash on Saturday in Kandy.

Both Kohli and Babar have been exceptional run-scorers, particularly in the ODI format. Pathan believes that the bowling attack that manages to silence these two batsmen will have a significant impact on the outcome of this highly anticipated match.

In an interview with Star Sports prior to the India vs Pakistan encounter, Irfan Pathan shared his thoughts on Virat Kohli and Babar Azam.

“They (Babar and Virat) respect each other a lot, no matter what is said on social media. They will naturally be crucial to their respective team’s chances and whoever bowls better to them will be the game-breaker,” Irfan said.

Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir believes that social media plays a significant role in generating hype before these encounters. He also highlighted the fact that the two teams do not engage in enough cricket matches together, which adds to the anticipation of every showdown between them.

Furthermore, Gambhir expressed concern about the detrimental impact of negative comments on social media towards cricketers.

“I think the hype around these clashes increase a lot because both teams don’t play enough cricket regularly and that makes it a rare occurrence. In this social media age and impact, it does affect the players when they are criticized. So although they aren’t really bothered about social media, it does create a bit of hype,” Gambhir said.

It will be intriguing to witness the combination that the Indian cricket team opts for, particularly in terms of their batting order.

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