“I have told Shoaib Akhtar that India will beat Pakistan easily”: Harbhajan Singh

The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will witness old rivals India and Pakistan starting their respective campaigns against each other when they square off for the first time since 2019. The bilateral cricket ties between the two nations have been suspended owing to political tensions and hence, the two teams only play each other either at global or continental events.

While any contest featuring Indian and Pakistan teams generates quite a buzz, the fact that such match-ups have become rare in men’s cricket adds to the excitement. Both set of players are confident of their chances.

India offspinner Harbhajan Singh who has been part of many a battles between the two teams has though made his prediction loud and clear: India will easily beat Pakistan on October 24 in Dubai.

The banter has already started with India broadcaster releasing a new iteration of its famous ‘Mauka Mauka’ series of promotional campaigns.

Reacting after watching the video, Harbhajan said he has already told the legendary Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar that the story will remain the same: India will continue their domination over Pakistan in world cups.

“I have told Shoaib Akhtar, there’s no point of playing, you should just give India a walkover. Your guys will play, lose again, be disappointed. Our team is quite strong. Shoaib Akhtar, there’s no chance, we will blow you away,” Harbhajan said in a video shared by Star Sports.

Pakistan have never beaten India in any men’s world cup match so far. Across the T20Is and ODIs world cup clashes involving the two teams, India have emerged victorious each of the seven times with the latest being at the ODI World Cup in Manchester.

At the inaugural World T20 in 2007, India defeated Pakistan twice including in the summit clash when they won a last-over thriller.