On paper, India are well ahead with most of their bases covered. But if Pakistan have to find a way to trump Rohit Sharma and Co. in what’s this T20 World Cup’s one of the much-awaited clashes, their quicks will have to play a pivotal role.

That’s how Azhar Ali, a former Pakistan captain, puts it.

On their day, Pakistan can surprise anyone with the kind of potential they have, but in terms of quality, India are better placed, Azhar pointed out. “India are obviously stronger on paper as they are a far more complete team.

“To speak of Pakistan, their middle order is not in a great form, while the opening pair also had to be changed as drafting in the aggressive Saim Ayub didn’t work. But Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are back as openers, though there are still a lot of questions that the team will need to answer, especially when it comes to the middle order,” Azhar, who featured in 97 Tests and 53 ODIs, told The Telegraph from Lahore.

“Yes, in terms of fast bowling, maybe Pakistan have an edge, but India too have a bowler like Jasprit Bumrah and other pacers who are impressive.”

For Pakistan to win on Sunday, a lot would rely on their pace trio of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf. Mohammad Amir, out of retirement, is another choice.

But pace aside, spin is another area where the qualitative difference between India and Pakistan is quite big, Azhar acknowledged. “India’s spinners also can exercise better control... Kuldeep Yadav, (Ravindra) Jadeja jaise bowlers (Bowlers like Kuldeep, Jadeja)...

“For Pakistan, (left-armer) Imad Wasim has that (control), but the same cannot be said about (leg-spinner) Shadab (Khan). Current form-wise, Abrar Ahmed (also a leg-spinner) should be preferred over Shadab and it’s better if he’s picked from the United States clash (on Thursday) itself as he can make maximum utilisation of the conditions.

“A leg-spinner needs to have a greater amount of first-class cricket experience for better execution of line and length.

And Abrar (121 scalps from 22 first-class games) has that,” Azhar, who played four ODIs against India, emphasised.

Assuming the nature of the Nassau County International Stadium pitch in New York won’t change much going into Sunday’s game, Azhar agreed that the low-scoring wicket could be a factor. “I think the low-scoring pitch gives Pakistan a better chance than on flat tracks.

“Yes, since that Asia Cup defeat to India last year, our bowling has struggled to have the kind of impact one expects from Pakistani bowlers. But if they can somehow restrict India to a low total by focusing on the hard lengths and not bowling too full, it will be game on,” the 39-year-old stated.

Kohli-Babar duel

How Virat Kohli and Pakistan captain Babar perform will also be crucial in terms of the outcome of the game.

Analysing both batsmen, Azhar ruled out any kind of comparison between the two, but highlighted Kohli’s ability to bring out his best in tough times.

“In all formats, Kohli has performed for a longer period of time. So, you can’t really compare the two careers. Babar is great to watch and has been quite consistent in T20 cricket also for the last four-five years.

“Like Kohli, he too trusts conventional cricketing strokes. But Kohli is someone who’s more inspirational to other batters. His strength is his ability to perform in crunch games.

“If we look back at that Indo-Pak game at the MCG (in the 2022 T20 World Cup), only Kohli could play such incredible shots at such a pressure situation. Mind you, the Pakistan bowling was much sharper that time,” Azhar explained.