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Team India studded with some of the best cricketers in the world will look to overcome all the possible hurdles on their way to clinch their second T20 World Cup title. Rohit Sharma-led side delivered a decent performance ahead of the ICC tournament as they outplayed defending champion Australia and South Africa in a bilateral series.

World number one ranked team will try to forget their last faceoff with arch-rivals Pakistan when both the sides will start their World Cup campaign against each other on October 23 in Melbourne Cricket Stadium. Although, Pakistan was missing the services of its premium fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam-led side outplayed Men in Blue in their Super-4 stage in recently concluded Asia Cup in United Arab of Emirates. 

A month has passed since Asia Cup 2022, and Pakistan's pace spearhead has also recovered from his knee injury ahead of the ICC tournament. Afridi is being regarded as one of the formidable assets for Men in Green and opponents will be wary of his potential. Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir has claimed that Team India counter Pakistan left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi in an aggressive manner and not just look to see him off in their T20 World Cup opener. 

"When it comes to Shaheen Afridi, I would suggest not to look survive but to score runs from him. Because the moment you look to survive, everything becomes really small. Whether it’s your back-lift, or footwork. In T20 format, you can’t look to just survive," said Gautam Gambhir. Cricketer-turned politician further said that Shaheen is a fine bowler and among the best in the world but even India team also has a world class batters and they must try put him under pressure by scoring against him.

"India will be fine because India has got the quality in their top 3 and 4 who can definitely take on Shaheen Shah Afridi. When you play at the MCG, the straight boundaries are not that big. It’s the side boundaries that are massive. Obviously, India needs to be smart, especially with the bat," added Gambhir.