DNA Exclusive: Who will win the T20 World Cup 2021 India vs Pakistan? Mohammad Kaif and Shoaib Akhtar share rare insights

New Delhi: Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2021 match between India and Pakistan, former cricketer Mohammad Kaif and his rival Shoaib Akhtar come together to share their invaluable insights, amazing experiences and some lesser known facts, one of which is the master Unveils a wonderful trivia about Blaster Sachin Tendulkar.

Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Choudhary on Thursday (October 21) spoke to two cricketing stalwarts – India’s Mohammad Kaif and Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar – to discuss, debate and discuss the T20 World Cup tournament for the next 28 days. Will present analysis.

The discussion started on a controversial note as Choudhary pointed out that there are many people who do not want the match between India and Pakistan to happen at all. Akhtar, who joined from Islamabad through video conferencing, replied that the situation in Pakistan is quite different from that of India.

Akhtar said, ‘When you watch Indian TV news channels apart from Zee News, it seems as if there is going to be a war tomorrow. This is not the case in Pakistani channels. India is not an issue here. But in India Pakistan is used as a political weapon. It becomes an issue in elections as well.”

“In Pakistan, people like and appreciate Indian cricketers. He admires Virat Kohli, he likes Rohit Sharma even more. They call him the Inzamam of India,” he said.

Chowdhary immediately pointed out that there are many people in Pakistan who keep talking about India. “Ramiz Raza had recently accused BCCI of enjoying undue influence. Even Pakistan PM Imran Khan (Indian PM) talks about Modi,” he said.

He said, ‘Yes, but our media doesn’t do that. There may be exceptions,” defended Akhtar.

Akhtar further said, “I have seen India which is huge, generous with people with big hearts. People love me here.”

Kaif said that the Indian team looks on paper and is in a strong position to win the upcoming match.

“Historically, India has always won these (World Cup) matches. But it depends on how the players perform on the day of the match. An advantage for the Indian side is that they have just played IPL in UAE and are used to the conditions. The players are also in form. It will be shocking if Pakistan wins. Of course, anything can happen in T20, but on paper India appears to be a much stronger team.

Akhar retorted on this and said, ‘Big matches are won with great courage, not by big players. Of course, India has better players, but with courage and the right strategy, things can turn out differently than expected. Also, T20 is a difficult format. It will be a 50-50 game. It will depend on how the players perform on that day.”

Asked whether the fever of the India vs Pakistan match has reached its peak in Pakistan, Akhtar brushed it off saying that he is more concerned about the Kiwis at the moment.

“We are, in fact, more angry with New Zealand for the way they insulted us by skipping the tournament. It was demoralizing,” he said.

Akhtar also clarified the media reports which claimed that he has written in his book that Sachin Tendulkar’s game has flaws and he is a little scared to face them.

“It was just media hype. I just mentioned that since Sachin was battling tennis elbow, I thought I might trouble him by bowling higher so that he struggles to pull. And thus I intimidate him, Tried to implicate me. I never said that Sachin is afraid of me.’

He recalled a meeting with Tendulkar and revealed something he “never told anyone”.

“When I went to Sachin’s house and tried to clarify the book controversy, he shrugged it off. Instead he told me that when I hit him in his abs during the Guwahati match, he broke his rib and he still continued to play. He said that he was having trouble breathing but he continued to play. He came to know about the fracture later that night. Such was the character of that man,” said Akhtar.

He then revealed why he thinks Sachin is one of the greats.

Sachin is one of the great players. He has played against the likes of McGrath, Shane Warne and then 10 years later he faced another generation of players like Brett Lee and me. Had he played in the current round, he would have scored at least one lakh runs.

When it came to picking his favorite player in the Indian team, Akhtar was quick to name Rohit Sharma.

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