In Stats: 5 Concerns for Shahid Afridi Ahead of WT20 Match v India

From his own form to burgeoning bat of Virat Kohli and even MS Dhoni’s record as captain, here’s the complete list.

On Saturday, the Eden Gardens in Kolkata will host the most popular of all matches scheduled to be played in the ICC World T20 2016. Host nation and pre-tournament favourites India take on archrivals Pakistan in the mother of all cricket contests. As much as players from both teams will maintain on camera and in public that this is just another match, in reality contests between the two neighbours comes with plenty of pressure.

There will be additional pressure on Pakistan for their poor legacy record against India in World Cups; in ten contests between India and Pakistan in World Cups, the latter have not won on a single occasion.

But, there is more. Here’s what all will be weighing on Shahid Afridi’s mind when he takes the field comes Saturday 7pm.

1. MS Dhoni

Leading the Indian team will be Captain Cool MS Dhoni, who is the most experienced leader in the T20 format. His counterpart will the enigmatic, yet unpredictable Shahid Afridi, who in contrast to Dhoni’s 216 matches, has only led in 80 T20 matches. With so many matches at the helm, Dhoni must have seen almost all the ups and downs in the game and has proven he is always a few steps ahead of the game. Captaincy also comes naturally to Dhoni, while Afridi needs to be really sharp on the field and play his cards at the right time if his team are to have a chance at causing an upset.

2. No Go vs India

There will also be added pressure on Afridi because of his abysmal record against India – both as a player and as a captain. In seven T20 internationals against India, Afridi has managed a total of only 45 runs at a modest strike-rate of 109.75. On the bowling front too, his returns are pretty ordinary; he has taken only 4 wickets and has leaked runs at an economy of 8.76 (as against a career economy rate of 6.57).

3. More Defeats Than Victories

Pakistan’s abysmal record against India in World Cup encounters and his poor record as captain (3 matches as captain, 3 defeats) notwithstanding, Afridi also needs to worry about his team’s recent performances in the format.

4. Starting Well

Afridi and the team management also have to worry about the start provided by their openers in T20Is in the last nine months; in the 15 matches Pakistan have played in this period, their average opening partnership has 17.60 – the lowest among all the Test nations.

5. India’s Aces

So much worry already, and one still has not spoken about the Indian players and their accomplishments. The likes of Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, etc must be licking their lips at the prospect of playing in this high-intensity contest. Ah, how can one not talk about Rohit Sharma when a match is being played at the Eden Gardens.

On the bright side though, Pakistan have a few positives going for them: they already have two points on the board from their win against Bangladesh (while India lost their opening match to New Zealand), and have a 7-2 win-loss record across all formats at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Further, the captain despite all the criticism dished out to him, started the tournament with a bang – scoring 49, taking two wickets & winning the Man of the Match award against Bangladesh.