South Africa must be afraid of the ‘deserved’ India in the World Cup final: Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar has asked South Africa to fear the resurgent India, who are on a roll in the ongoing 2024 T20 World Cup. India and South Africa will meet in the summit clash on June 29, Saturday at the Kensington Oval. in Barbados. Both teams reached the final after remaining undefeated throughout the tournament. South Africa stormed into the final after beating Afghanistan by 9 wickets on Thursday, June 27 in Trinidad.

South Africa made history by breaking the knockout curse and reaching their first World Cup final. Aiden Markram has rallied his troops up front and has yet to lose a single World Cup match as captain, winning 16 out of 16. Meanwhile, India have won seven matches in a row and will look to clear the final hurdle and lift the trophy .

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‘India should win this one’

Shoaib warned the Proteas of the threat the Indian team could pose and pointed out that it would not be easy for the South African batters to score runs against the Indian spinners.

“Anyway, I think India deserves it and a lot of congratulations to India. This is what I have been saying for a long time, they should have won the last two World Cups and they should win this one too. If South Africa wins the toss, they should bat first. Then you have a small margin or else they will play their first ever final but after this performance even South Africa will be scared. Who will score runs for these spinners? India should definitely win this one,” Shoaib said in a video posted on the YouTube channel.

Should Virat Kohli open the final?

Shoaib also reflected on Virat Kohli’s dip in form and suggested that the star player come into bat at his usual spot at number 3.

“I wish Rishabh Pant and Rohit Sharma could send Virat Kohli at number 3. India’s problems will be solved if Kohli comes back to his natural and usual position. This is not his game, he likes to take his time and hit loose balls, and then he improves his strike rate. So I am not sure if Kohli is a natural opener, so he is a bit stuck and if Rishabh Pant opens, the problem will be solved,” Shoaib added.