Gautam Gambhir has made a big statement ahead of India’s match against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi. This will be the second of the two games to be played today. India find themselves in a must-win situation after losing their first two games. They also need to win by a big margin to improve on their net run-rate to go up on the points table.
Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir has lauded Afghanistan’s bowling attack ahead of the game. He further went on to say that they possess a better attack than that of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the tournament.
“Afghanistan aren’t pushovers. They’ve a better bowling attack than the likes of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,” Gambhir told Star Sports ahead of India vs Afghanistan encounter.
Stressing on that point, former India opener Gautam Gambhir said it won’t be an easy task for Virat Kohli and Co. to go after the Afghanistan bowlers in their must-win Super 12, Group 2 match in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
AfghanAtalan will face @BCCI in their 4th match at the Super12s of the @T20WorldCup tomorrow. The game is set to commence at 6:30 AFT & will be available live on @SportRta & @Ariana in Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/SqCEwqfiEI
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) November 2, 2021
India’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals are hanging by a thread. They need to win all their remaining games and win them by big margins to stay in the tournament.
“In such a situation when runs are dried up, batters tend to play for their position, which can be extra motivation. Do that and get runs on the board. You try to win first, rather than thinking about the NRR. Once you are in the game, you play according to the situation,” he added.
Can’t Blame The IPL: Gautam Gambhir
The former Indian batsman further said that IPL cannot be blamed for India’s performance in the T20 World Cup. Jasprit Bumrah in his press conference after the game against New Zealand spoke about the bubble fatigue in the IPL affecting the performance of the players and that they needed a break in between the two tournaments.
“You can’t blame the IPL. If anything goes wrong with Indian cricket, everyone starts pointing fingers towards the IPL. This is wrong. Sometimes, you have to expect that 2-3 teams are playing better cricket than you. The earlier you accept that, the better it will be for you”.
“In the previous game against New Zealand, we weren’t brave enough, we were so nervous before the game. What has that got to do with IPL? It was similar in the 2019 World Cup semi-final as well. At that time, we had come to the World Cup after playing in the Indian Premier League as well!” Gambhir added.
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