“Don't just look to survive” - Gautam Gambhir’s Stern Advice To India Ahead Of The Pakistan Clash In 20-20 World Cup

The 20-20 World Cup is around the corner and team India are already in Australia. After winning both the T20I series against Australia and South Africa respectively, India are now looking to do well in the upcoming mega event. However, the Men in Blue will kick off their World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on 23 October 2022 in Melbourne.

During the last 20-20 World Cup, Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets. They even managed to defeat India for teh first time in World Cup. Therefore, India will look to do well this time around against the arch-rivals. Now, former Indian batter, Gautam Gambhir opened up about the approach India need during that clash.

"When it comes to Shaheen Afridi, don't look to survive.” - Advice from Gautam Gambhir for team India

While speaking on the Star Sports show 'Game Plan’, Gautam Gambhir said that India should not look to survive against Shaheen Afridi. They need to look for scoring runs against him. He said: "When it comes to Shaheen Afridi, don't look to survive. Look to score runs from him. Because the moment you look to survive, everything becomes really small. Whether it's your backlift, whether it's your footwork, and obviously, in T20 cricket you can't look to survive."

He also added: "I know that he can be dangerous with the new ball, but again, irrespective, the Indian batters need to score more runs, get into better positions, and look to time the balls rather than to hit it. India will be fine because India has got the quality in their top 3 or 4 who can definitely take on Shaheen Shah Afridi."

Along with him, another former Indian player, Irfan Pathan also shared that team India need to be smart while playing at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). “When you play at the MCG, the straight boundaries are not that big. It's the side boundaries that are massive. Obviously, India need to be smart, especially the batting. Probably, it will be difficult to hit the side boundaries, so they have to play the gaps and probably convert the twos into threes and ones into twos because running between the wickets will be very important," Irfan Pathan concluded.