A big India-Pakistan match doesn’t exist anymore: Sourav Ganguly
India's win improved their head-to-head record against Pakistan in T20 World Cups to 8-1
Dubai: After India’s 61-run victory over Pakistan in their Group A match of the ICC T20 World Cup, former India captain Sourav Ganguly said the India-Pakistan clash no longer feels like the high-intensity “big match” it once was.
“A big match doesn’t really exist anymore; those kinds of matches used to happen in the past. We make the mistake of thinking of Pakistan as the team of Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, and Shahid Tanvir, but that Pakistan no longer exists,” Ganguly told IANS.
India’s win also secured their place in the Super Eights. Ishan Kishan set the platform with a quickfire 77, while the bowlers restricted Pakistan to 114 in 18 overs, comfortably defending the 176-run target.
The victory improved India’s head-to-head record against Pakistan in T20 World Cups to 8-1, with Pakistan’s only win coming in 2021.
“So, in my view, it’s not a big match. For me, the real big matches are India vs Australia, India vs South Africa, and India vs England. There is a huge difference between the teams, so the result is somewhat expected. The gap in quality is more noticeable than the result itself,” Ganguly added.
While India have already qualified for the Super Eights with a game remaining, Pakistan must likely beat Namibia in their final Group A match to stay in contention. India will wrap up their league stage against the Netherlands on February 18 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
