Former Indian cricketer, Gautam Gambhir says that playing Pakistan earlier in the tournament will help India as they can focus on the remaining tournament.
India and Pakistan are set to face each other in the T20I World Cup on October 24 in their group stage match, announced by International Cricket Council on Tuesday.
Former Indian opener, Gautam Gambhir believes that facing Pakistan at the start of the tournament can be as beneficial for India as they can on the remaining league.
Talking on Star Sports show Game Plan; ICC T20 World Cup schedule, Gambhir highlighted the importance of the Pakistan and India clash at the initial stages.
“In 2007 as well, when we went on to win the World Cup, our first game was against Scotland, which was washed out, but then practically, our first game was against Pakistan. And that is exactly what I mentioned, it is important to play Pakistan in the early stages of the tournament because what happens is — you don’t want to keep thinking about Pakistan — you can finish it off initially and concentrate on the entire tournament, and it is exactly the same for the fans and the country as well,”
said Gambhir.
“Irrespective of what the result is, I am really happy for both the countries that they are going to play against each other in the initial stages,”
he added.
The ICC Men’s T20I World Cup is set to start from October 17 in UAE and Oman with the final being played in Dubai on November 14.
The tournament will start with Round 1; Group B encounter between hosts Oman and Papua New Guinea on October 17, with Scotland and Bangladesh, the other teams in Group B, clashing in the evening match to fight for their places in the mega event.
Ireland, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, and Namibia — making up Group A — will be in action in Abu Dhabi the next day, with Round 1 matches taking place till October 22. The top two teams in each group will proceed to the Super 12 stage of the WC matches, beginning on October 23.