NEW DELHI: Former India captain Saurav Ganguly believes Pakistan are one of the favourites in the forthcoming ICC World Cup.

Ganguly recalled how Pakistan have always performed well in the ICC events staged in England, including the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. Though the Indian team won their duel in the league stages, Pakistan simply outplayed India by a massive 180 runs in the final and had previously also won the 2009 World T20 which was also played in England.

“Pakistan’s record in world tournaments in England is remarkable. They won the Champions Trophy two years ago, they won the 2009 World T20 in England,” Ganguly was quoted as saying by TimesNowNews.

The biggest hype leading into the ICC event is around the India-Pakistan match on June 16 to be played in Manchester. Till date, India have faced their neighbours six times in the World Cup and have won on all occasions. Although Ganguly believes that Pakistan cannot be written off, he remains confident that India will be the team to beat at the game’s premier competition.

He also spoke about Pakistan’s recent performance in the second ODI of the ongoing series against England where lost the game by only 12 runs while chasing a massive 374.

“Pakistan always play well in England. You see the last game in England. England got 374 and Pakistan just lost by 12 runs. They also beat England in England in Test matches there because of their bowling lineup.”

“I don’t believe in records. Both of them [India and Pakistan] will have to play well on that particular day. India will be a very good side. They will be very hard to beat. Team which has the likes of Kohli, Rohit, Shikhar Dhawan can’t be weak,” said Ganguly.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2019