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Ambati Rayudu has picked Canada as the favorites for their 2024 T20 World Cup clash against Pakistan in New York on Tuesday, June 11. He noted that any team can beat the Men in Green, considering the below-par performances they are dishing out currently.
Pakistan lost to the United States of America and India in their first two Group A games. They need to beat Canada and Ireland in their remaining two group games and other results to go their way to keep their Super 8 qualification hopes alive.
On the Star Sports show 'Game Plan', Rayudu was asked to pick the favorites for the Pakistan-Canada clash.
"Definitely Canada, the way they (Pakistan) are playing, anyone will beat them. I am not insulting Pakistan cricket. However, the way they are playing currently, any team will come out on top against them," he responded.
On the flip side, Piyush Chawla chose Babar Azam and company as the likely winners.
"I will go with a little experience here because Pakistan have been playing international cricket for such a long time and Canada are extremely new. The scales are tilted towards Pakistan only," the former India spinner reasoned.
Pakistan are fourth in Group A, behind India, the United States, and Canada. Even if they win their remaining two group matches, they will need either India or the USA to lose their last two games to stand any chance of qualification.
"They are neither playing attacking cricket nor do they have a balanced approach" - Ambati Rayudu on Pakistan's batting issues
Ambati Rayudu replied in the affirmative when asked whether batting is Pakistan's biggest concern.
"Of course, I feel they have very little clarity in batting. They are neither playing attacking cricket nor do they have a balanced approach. They are just panicking. They are just searching for fours, sixes and singles. They are searching for everything," he explained in the same interaction.
"No batter is confidently able to stand there and say that if he plays 10 balls, he would hit one or two fours, or take two singles or two doubles. They don't have a game plan at all," the former India batter added.
Rayudu was further asked whether the Canadian seam duo of Jeremy Gordon and Dilon Heyliger could trouble the Pakistani batters.
"Absolutely, because both hit the pitch hard and bowl short. The Pakistani batters don't have an answer against that length because they are neither playing the cut nor the pull and are unable to take singles either. Many times the bat is not hitting the ball at all. So I feel these tall fast bowlers can trouble them a lot," he responded.
Gordon and Heyliger were Canada's most successful bowlers against Ireland. They picked up two wickets apiece to help their side register a 12-run win while defending a 138-run target.
