India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup 2021: Dubai Cricket Stadium Pitch Report, Weather, Key Players, Prediction

1. Pitch report

Since the time of IPL 2021, the Dubai pitch played a bit slow and low. During the warm-up matches too the 22-yard surface showed a similar trait and India seemed to have tamed the variable nature of the pitch while notching up two wins in as many warm-up matches. That experience will count in India’s favour for sure.

2. Weather report in Dubai

The Dubai weather on Sunday will remain as it has been for the better part of October, humid and hot with the needle hovering over late 30s. The dew is set to make an appearance in the second part of the match, and that might just help the chasers a bit more.

3. Key players

India: For the Virat Kohli-led side, the two warm-up matches offered some consolation points as key players like Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav showed some very reasonable form with the bat. With the ball, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami too have been on target.

Concern: Skipper Virat Kohli will have to get some runs under his belt and once again could not convert the start.

Key Players: Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Varun Chakravarthy.

Pakistan: They have not defeated India in any of the 13 meetings in the World Cups — 50 overs over in the T20 version. But past records count for little T20 format as Pakistan, a hub of very good players in this format, can finally hope to pull one back against India.

Concern: The bowling unit has some greenhorns like Shaheen Afridi, Harris Rauf who has not really played against India and experienced that pressure. And they will have to find a way to cope with that heated situation whereas the Indian players have been there and done that on several occasions in the past.

Key players: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez.

4. Match prediction

The match will certainly offer some exciting moments for us. On the paper, both the teams are equally matched but India will have a bit more experience on their side going into this match. It will not tilt the balance heavily in favour of India but will stand as a comforting factor of sorts. After all, predicting a winner in T20s is a hazardous task.