Spin legend Anil Kumble feels England will have an upper hand in the T20 World Cup final match against Pakistan on Sunday at Melbourne Cricket. England and Pakistan both have a topsy-turvy journey to the final of the tournament. At one stage, Pakistan were almost out of the semifinal race but the Netherlands opened the doors for them by beating South Africa. While they registered a clinical win over New Zealand in the semifinals to seal a place in the final.
While England also suffered an early upset in the tournament after losing to Ireland in the rain-affected match due to the DLS method. They bounced back in style by beating New Zealand and Sri Lanka to enter the last four where they eliminated favourites India from the race with a massive 10-wicket victory.
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Kumble suggested that both teams have to be wary of the Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch as it will be different from the Adelaide Oval or SCG where England and Pakistan played their respective semifinals.
“The conditions are very different. We have seen at the MCG that there is a lot more swing and some bounce and some pace. So it depends on that. I don’t think it will be like the Adelaide pitch. Pakistan will have to watch out for that and so does England,” Kumble told ESPNCricinfo.
The legendary spinner said that Jos Buttler and Co. have an upper hand as they have enough firepower to get over the line at MCG.
“England have had two good opening partnerships against India and their previous fixture as well but still they’ll need to watch out for that swing. England definitely has the upper hand in terms of experience and the firepower and the options they have available with them in their bowling lineup,” he said.
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The 52-year-old said that India need more multi-dimensional players in the squad going forward to compete on the big stage with teams like England.
“…what I see as something that certainly needs to be done is, how we keep talking about to bat. But I think in Indian cricket, you need batters to bowl too for the balance of the team,”
“That’s exactly what England have. They had too many choices. They used Liam Livingstone. Moeen Ali has hardly bowled in this tournament. So those are the choices that you need,” he added.
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