World Cup 2019: 3 Pakistani players that India need to be wary of

The much-awaited clash between the two undefeated teams of the tournament, India and New Zealand at Trent Bridge, had to be called off due to rain. Both the teams shared a point each and are still the only undefeated teams of World Cup 2019.

Now the blockbuster match of the tournament is upon us, as India take on arch-rivals Pakistan at Old Trafford, Manchester. India will look to maintain their undefeated streak against their neighbours at the World Cup while Pakistan will try hard to create history.

Pakistan has been the most unpredictable team of the tournament so far. In their first match of World Cup 2019, they were thrashed by the West Indies but in the second match, they defeated the hosts and firm favourites England by 14 runs. Their last match against Australia also resulted in a loss.

Pakistan have one win out of four matches and are currently at the 8th position in the points table. But there is no denying the fact that they have quite a few match-winners in their team. So let’s have a look at 3 such Pakistani players India should watch out for.

#3 Fakhar Zaman

Indian fans are quite familiar with Fakhar Zaman because of the famous knock of 114 that he played in the final of Champions Trophy 2017. It was his knock that helped Pakistan upset India and take home the cup.

Zaman has come a long way since that knock at Kennington Oval. He is now one of the main batsmen in the Pakistan batting line-up, having accomplished a lot as an opening batsman in the last three years including an ODI double hundred.

The 29-year-old left-handed batsmen averages 48.57 in ODIs, with four hundreds and 10 fifties. He is an attacking batsman who likes to take on the opposition bowling line-up.

Zaman strikes near 100 in ODI cricket, which is very impressive for an opening batsman. He is definitely a batsman India should watch out for.

#2 Wahab Riaz

Wahab Riaz hasn’t made much of an impact so far in this World Cup. His most remarkable performance came with the bat in the last match against Australia, where he almost pulled off an unbelievable run chase for his team with a knock of 45 runs from 39 balls.

Riaz is a left-arm fast bowler who is known for his swing and pace. He frequently bowls at speeds of higher than 140 kmph, and with a height of 6 ft 2 inches he gets that extra bounce to trouble the batsmen.

Riaz is expected to trouble the Indian batsmen on English conditions as Team India have historically struggled against left-arm fast bowlers. He has performed well against India in the past too; his famous 5/46 in the 2011 World Cup semi-final against India is still fresh in the memory.

The weather conditions are expected to be overcast and that will help the bowlers. So the Indian batsmen would definitely need to be careful against Riaz at the beginning.

#1 Mohammad Amir

The biggest threat to the Indian team is undoubtedly Mohammad Amir. He is the leading wicket-taker of World Cup 2019 so far and is slowly returning to his rhythm. He has picked up 10 wickets in just 3 matches with an economy rate of 4.73.

Amir is a left-arm fast bowler who consistently bowls at 140 kmph. Even at that speed he is able to swing the bowl both ways, which makes him very dangerous. If the conditions are somewhat favourable to swing bowling then he has the ability to run through any opposition top order.

Amir picked up 5 for 30 in the last match against Australia, the best figures of the tournament so far. In a match where the Aussies scored 307, his economy rate was just 3.00.

In the Champions Trophy 2017 final, Amir picked up the wickets of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan which broke the backbone of the Indian batting line-up. His figures of 3 for 16 in six overs proved to be the turning point of the match.

Amir in England can be as deadly as it gets in cricket. Considering the past woes of Indian batsmen against left-arm pacers, the top order must be extremely cautious against the quality of Amir.