New Delhi: Emotions often get the better of his side when facing arch-rivals India, a flaw former Pakistan skipper Rashid Latif believes has cost them crucial matches in recent years.
Bilateral cricket between the two neighbours has been suspended for over a decade due to political tensions, restricting their contests to ICC and ACC events. In the past 10 years, the rivalry has been largely one-sided, with India winning 12 of the 15 completed matches.
“We get emotional or hyper and try to do everything in one go. We don’t take the games deep against India and because of this, Pakistan lose most of the time,” Latif said in an interview with PTI Videos.
“India on the other hand play according to the pitch and match situation and that’s why they succeed,” added the former wicketkeeper-batter.
The two countries will resume their rivalry facing each other in a group A match of the Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday.
Latif feels India’s ability to hold their nerve, backed by Hardik Pandya’s finishing skills, the balance provided by Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, and Jasprit Bumrah’s unmatched accuracy, makes them the more complete side at the moment.
“Hardik Pandya is a dangerous player. The players in the middle or those who come below can change the game. Pandya has not done it once but many times, which is amazing and that’s why he’s called the X-factor. He can change the game completely,” Latif said.
“Players like Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Surya Kumar Yadav bring balance, Bumrah in bowling is a huge asset. Overall, it’s a very good team,” he said.
For Latif, Bumrah remains the bowler who can tilt the pti contests.
“As far as bowling is concerned, accuracy is more. In T20Is, the nerves and skills of Indians work better during the game,” he added.
In the 2022 T20 World Cup at Melbourne, Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 82 pulled India out of trouble to win by four wickets off the final ball.
A year later in the Asia Cup, India hammered Pakistan by 228 runs in Colombo, with their Super Four clash washed out.
In the 2024 T20 World Cup in USA, Bumrah’s three wickets sealed a six-run win as India defended just 119.
‘There is pressure on Pakistan which they have been carrying for the
last 30 years. So maybe India will try to take advantage of it,” Latif admitted.
He, however, pointed out one possible Indian weakness that they have not played much T20Is in recent past.
“The only disadvantage in India is that they have not played T20Is.
They must be playing warm-up matches or practicing. But they have not played any match. This may be a disadvantage,” Latif said.