Former Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu has tipped Pakistan to win the ICC T-20 World Cup. The former champions are unbeaten in the 16 nation competition and were the first team to qualify for the semi-finals. Babar Azamâs team have a terrific record in UAE having won their last 16 games in the gulf. Atapattu, Sri Lankaâs captain from 2003 to 2006 and Head Coach from 2014 to 2015 predicts that it will be hard to beat Pakistan.
âItâs not easy to beat Pakistan in UAE. These conditions are very close to their home conditions. The lengths they bowl and the shots they play, I think they can do that even in their sleep. They are so familiar with the conditions. Their bowling resources and the fearless approach to batting is great to watch,â Atapattu told a group of Sri Lankan journalists during a virtual interaction from Colombo.
âI saw a YouTube video recently where Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf bowling on a road in a tape ball cricket match. It is quite remarkable to watch. A good team has to have a really good day to beat the Pakistan team in these conditions,â Atapattu said.
Pakistan look to have all bases covered having got left-arm seam, right-arm seam, off-spin, leg-spin and left-arm orthodox spin. No team in the competition has such versatility and variety. Their batting has been quite formidable with Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan giving solid starts top of the order while the dangerous Fakhar Zaman is at number three and the experienced Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik hold their middle order together.
Babar Azamâs team have a terrific record in UAE having won their last 16 games in the gulf.
Pakistan started off the Super 12 stage in stunning fashion beating arch-rivals India by ten wickets. They are the only team to win a second round game by that margin.
âI did not think that a team like India would get eliminated this fast. I was pleasantly surprised by what Sri Lanka did. So there can be surprises. England team is really good. But they came so close to be beaten by Sri Lanka. They also admitted that Sri Lanka was the only team that gave them a good fight. So if you tell me to choose a team out of the four semi-finalists, I will choose Pakistan to win the tournament,â Atapattu said.
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