Can Pakistan Beat India in ODI World Cup 2023: Right after the announcement of the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 schedule, October 14 might become the date not to forget as a cricket fan.
Definitely, many crazy cricket fans might skip their office/work to watch the “El Clasico” game of cricket. The most rival game of cricket – India vs Pakistan will be played on October 14 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
The hype for the India vs Pakistan clash has never ever got in a downtrend. That too their clash in the ODI World Cup will be a feast for the cricket community. Owing to the political tension between the two countries, India and Pakistan will play against each other only at the Asia Cup and ICC events.
As everyone knows, no one can decide the winner of the game only with the historical date. Thus to answer the most searched question of the day – “Can Pakistan Beat India in ODI World Cup 2023” our team have analysed the stats and brings up an answer.
Can Pakistan Beat India in ODI World Cup 2023?
Can Pakistan Beat India in ODI World Cup 2023: Before answering the question we will have a look at player vs player comparison for a clear picture.
Rohit Sharma vs Shadab
In simple words, we can say Rohit Sharma vs Shadab will be a lively duel. Rohit Sharma has scored 117 runs at an average of 58.50 in 87 deliveries bowled by Shadab in ODI format. In those 87 deliveries, Rohit managed to strike only 6 boundaries and 7 sixes.
Note: Rohit Sharma is the only active Indian player to hold a position in the top 10 list of players to hit the Most Sixes in World Cup History.
Babar Azam vs Kuldeep Yadav
Though Babar Azam holds the top position in the ICC Men’s ODI Batters Ranking, the Pakistan skipper has struggled against the Southpaw. Kuldeep Yadav has dismissed Babar Azam a couple of times for just 18 runs in 35 deliveries he bowled against him in the ODI format.
Virat Kohli vs Pakistan
In a big game like India vs Pakistan, the weight will always be on the shoulders of the key players. Indian star player Virat Kohli has scored 662 runs at an average of 55.16 against Pakistan which includes 2 half centuries and 3 centuries.
Rohit Sharma vs Pakistan
On the other hand, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma managed to score 787 runs at an average of 49.18 against Pakistan which includes 7 half-centuries and 2 centuries.
Hardik Pandya vs Pakistan
Indian allrounder Hardik Pandya who played many key knocks for India in many international games has a descent record against the Men in Green. Against Pakistan, Hardik scored 209 runs at an average of 69.66 and also bagged 6 wickets at an economy of 5.05 in ODI format.
Babar Azam vs India
Babar Azam who is considered one of the great players of the Pakistan cricket team has a poor record against India in ODI format. Babar managed to score only 168 runs at an average of 28.00 with the highest of 48 runs against India in ODI.
Deadly Duo in Death Overs
In international formats, no one can easily pinpoint an error in Pakistan’s bowling attack. Pakistan bowlers have the capability to make the in-form players to struggle with their pace variations.
Pakistan spearhead Shaheen Afridi has bowled 180 deliveries against India and bagged 18 wickets at an economy of 7.23 in death overs. On the other hand, his bowling partner Haris Rauf has bagged 16 wickets in 208 deliveries at an economy of 7.07 in death overs.
KL Rahul in 2023
KL Rahul who struggled with injuries ahead of the tournament has a consistent performance in the ODI format. KL scored 628 runs at an average of 78.50 in the ODI format of the game this year.
Rizwan in Middle Over
Mohammad Rizwan has managed to save Pakistan on many occasions after top-order batters’ failures. In 2023, Rizwan scored 616 runs in 16 innings at an average of 77.00 in middle overs.
In Pakistan’s last World Cup game against Sri Lanka, Rizwan scored an unbeaten 131 runs and led the team to chase 345 runs target and even won the Player of the Match award for the game.
Indian New Ball Duo
Indian pacers Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah have a decent record in 1st powerplay. In 1st powerplay, Bumrah has bowled 184 balls so far and bagged 6 wickets at an economy of 3.88.
On the other hand, Siraj bowled 390 deliveries and bagged 16 wickets at an economy of 4.80 in 1st powerplay.
Kuldeep Yadav in middle overs
In ODIs this year, Kuldeep Yadav has bagged 30 wickets at an economy of 4.41 in 723 balls he bowled in middle overs. Kuldeep is considered a “Genuine wicket-taker” for the team India in middle overs.
Shubman Gill in 1st Power Play
Indian opening batter Shubman Gill has incredible numbers in ODIs this year while playing in the 1st powerplay. Gill scored 486 runs at an average of 162.00.
India vs Pakistan Last ODI World Cup Clash
India emerged as the winner of the game in their last meeting in the ODI World Cup tournament. In the 2019 World Cup tournament, India and Pakistan locked their horns to play the 22nd match of the tournament at Manchester.
Indian opening duo KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma laid a strong foundation and scored 136 runs for the 1st wicket. Wahab Riaz drew the first blood for India by dismissing KL Rahul for 57 runs. Following his dismissal, Rohit scored a century while Virat scored a half-century and moved India’s score beyond 200.
With not much from the lower order, India managed to score 336 runs for 5-wicket loss at the end of 50 overs.
On the other hand, Pakistan lost their first wicket for just 13 runs and made a struggling start. But Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam made a 104-run partnership and gave some hope.
Kuldeep Yadav broke the partnership by dismissing Babar Azam for 48 runs and even made the situation worse by dismissing Fakhar Zaman for 62 runs. While Pakistan was at 166 runs for 6 wickets from 35 overs, rain intervened the game and forced the officials to reduce the over by 40 overs.
As per the DLS rules, Pakistan was in need of scoring 136 runs in just 30 deliveries which was quite unachievable without their star players on the crease. At the end of 40 overs, India won the game by 89 runs and made the equation 7-0 in head to head World Cup clash.
What to expect in the India vs Pakistan World Cup 2023 Clash?
Though India thrashed Pakistan in the 2019 World Cup, the team have gone through many changes and even made some glorious knocks in the last 4 years.
Many young bloods have been injected into the Pakistan squad who even gave nightmares to the Indian players in their last meet-ups.
Shaheen Afridi was the architect of Pakistan’s most significant moment in any World Cup match against India when he packed off Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in a stunning opening spell in Dubai two years ago. He will be tasked with creating a similar impact against an imposing, but right-heavy batting line-up susceptible to his left-arm angle.
Kuldeep Yadav vs Babar Azam was a marquee contest that didn’t see the light of day in the Asia Cup after the left-arm spinner produced a ball for the ages in Manchester. Kuldeep has dismissed the Pakistan skipper twice in 18 balls bowled at him.
Shubman Gill who has an extraordinary record in Ahmedabad stadium has been out of the tournament for India’s first 2 games owing to illness. Though Rohit gave a positive comment about his participation in the Pakistan clash, his performance on the big stage remains questionable.
Shubman Gill pushed himself to practice for half an hour two days out from the game. With spin to have a lesser say in the contest, Shardul Thakur is expected to hold on to his place ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin.
Now answering the question, Yes Pakistan can beat India in ODI World Cup 2023 if their top-order players give a decent knock in the 1st powerplay while their bowlers need to bag the big fishes of the Indian team before making destructions.
On the other hand, with the home-ground advantage, India has a slighter-high chance to win the game against Pakistan in the OCI World Cup 2023. The match will be a 60-40 chance for India and Pakistan to win.
Fans can predict the winner of the India vs Pakistan clash by just clicking below:
Who will Win the India vs Pakistan Clash Today?#INDvsPAK #CWC2023
— Times of Sports (@timesofsports) October 14, 2023
Pakistan Probable 11
Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
India Probable 11
Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
