India-Pakistan T20 World Cup Clash: Ganguly Predicts Formidable Challenge

The highly anticipated first-round clash between archrivals India and Pakistan in the T20 World Cup is set to take place on June 9 at the newly constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. Both teams are considered favorites to advance to the Super 8 stage from Group A, which also includes Ireland.

India, led by experienced captain Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli, is aiming to reclaim the title they won at the inaugural tournament in South Africa in 2007. Former Indian captain and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly believes that India has a strong chance of winning the World Cup, but he cautions that Pakistan will pose a formidable challenge in the Twenty20 format.

"Our record against Pakistan has been very good over a long period of time," Ganguly said. "In the T20 format, probably Pakistan is more dangerous compared to 50-overs (format). We beat them in Ahmedabad when they came to India and we beat them easily."

However, Ganguly emphasized that India must play with freedom and without fear to maximize their chances of success. "Just put all the cobwebs behind. Don't worry about winning or losing. Don't think about winning the World Cup. Just go and play every game," he advised.

Ganguly also praised India's talented squad, which includes Kohli, Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dubey, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, and Sanju Samson. "That's why I say everyone is capable of winning it for India and the only way they will do it is (if they) just play with freedom," he said.

Regarding the drop-in pitches that will be used in the USA leg of the World Cup, Ganguly expressed optimism that they will be batting-friendly. "I am very keen to see how the conditions are in the US. (The Nassau County Cricket Stadium is a) new ground, new stadium. I know there have been drop in pitches from Adelaide," he said.

"The ICC has spent a lot of money to bring in the drop-in pitches to America," he added. "(The) drop-in pitches are normally very good, very batting friendly. And they don't change much over a period of time because they are different from natural pitches. So we are expecting the pitches to be very good."

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