Without any doubt, Team India is stronger in every department, as compared to arch-rivals Pakistan, who are scheduled to face-off in Dubai on Feb 23, in the Champions Trophy 2025 contest. But former Pakistan batter Mohammad Yousuf thinks otherwise, and feels his side has the edge, playing in “home” conditions.
India vs Pakistan, Champions Trophy 2025
Mind you, Pakistan leads the head-to-head battles against India 3-1 in the Champions Trophy, and had beaten them in the final of the 2017 edition as well. Meanwhile, Yousuf did not stop there and went on to reveal, that New Zealand is the strongest side in the competition.
“New Zealand looks like the most balanced side. They have a good side as per the subcontinent conditions. They have three quality fast bowlers and good spinners. They have a solid top six in batting. The wicketkeeper is an all-rounder; they have two spin-bowling all-rounders,” said Yousuf on Samaa TV.
Hosts Hold the Edge in IND vs PAK?
“India, too, have a balanced side. Pakistan have the edge because they are playing in home conditions. But they have to play calculated cricket in the tournament,” he added. But then Yousuf did not shy away from offering some advice to the Pakistani team, who lost the tri-series final.
“We have played on turning wickets recently. We need to play in the gaps against the spinners. Rotate the strike and play fewer dots. We got exposed in the tri-series final against New Zealand. We failed to dominate their spinners in the middle overs. There are too many gaps with five fielders in the 30-yard circle.”
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Pakistan Squad: Pakistan squad for Champions Trophy: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
