Gautam Gambhir opened up about India’s T20 World Cup campaign as the fixtures were rolled out yesterday. India will be starting their World T20 journey against their arch-rivals, Pakistan, on October 24th.
The clash of the continental titans will be followed by India’s fixtures against New Zealand and Afghanistan before they take on the Group B toppers and Group A runners from the opening rounds.
Former Indian World Cup winner Gautam Gambhir blurted out his emotions in the wake of India’s fixtures. He was elated about the fact that India will be starting their campaign against Pakistan as he believes that it would boost the morale of the Indian cricketers for the entire campaign.
Talking on Game Plan, Star Sports’ talk-show, he mentioned, “The most important takeaway is that you are playing Pakistan in the first match itself on the 24th, that you are starting your campaign against Pakistan because I always remember that if you play against Pakistan later, the talk is always that when you are playing against Pakistan.”
He also said that the players wouldn’t have to go through the ordeal of the high hype that precedes an Indo-Pakistan clash for long.
His exact words were, “If you were playing the first match against New Zealand and the last match against Pakistan, the hype would have remained till the last match. If you had defeated New Zealand or even when you are playing against New Zealand, everyone would have been saying that the big game is coming on that particular day.”
One major factor that compounds the pressure on the Indian cricketers is their unbeaten streak against Pakistan in the extravaganza. In the T20 format, India has so far collided with their neighbors a staggering eight times, winning 6 out of them.
Gambhir also highlighted the importance of the gap between their opening and second match, claiming that the players will get time to recuperate and prepare themselves mentally for the closely packed games in the latter stages of the tournament.
He cited, “When you are playing against Pakistan on the 24th, then probably that much hype and emotional pressure will not be there on the players. Plus the important thing is that after the first match, you have a six-day break, but after that when you play against New Zealand, post that you are playing back to back, which somewhere or the other is a huge positive.”
India will be going into the fray with a good deal of preparation as the Test series between India and England will be succeeded by the remainder of the IPL which is slated to happen in the same venues as the World Cup.
