NEW DELHI: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Saturday described Pakistan’s Usman Tariq as a conventional off-spinner who merely adds a pause to his delivery stride, expressing confidence that Indian batters will cope well with him in the T20 World Cup clash.
India and Pakistan are set to lock horns in a Group A encounter in Colombo on Sunday, and the 28-year-old Tariq has emerged as a major talking point in the build-up as a potential ‘X-factor’.
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The Indian batting line-up will be facing the right-arm spinner for the first time in spin-friendly conditions at the R Premadasa Stadium. Tariq has already picked up 11 wickets in just four T20Is, adding intrigue to the contest.
"It's difficult to predict in T20s but India are a good team and it's not easy to beat them," said Ganguly, who is currently the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, while speaking to reporters during a T20 World Cup magazine launch.
"Nothing is difficult, he (Tariq) is an off-spinner and he just bowls with a pause. He is an out-an-out off-spinner and India will play him well," he added.
Ganguly, however, indicated that he expects India to stick with the same playing eleven against Pakistan.
"Axar (Patel), Varun (Chakravarthy), (Jasprit) Bumrah and Arshdeep (Singh) should be the frontline bowlers. I don't think Rinku (Singh) should be replaced for Kuldeep (Yadav), because you have to take care of the balance in batting department as well. I feel the same team should be played."
"India will play well," Ganguly added confidently.
When asked about the impact of opener Abhishek Sharma, who recently recovered from a stomach infection that required hospitalisation, Ganguly chose to underline the importance of collective effort. "One individual doesn't matter," he said.
The former Board of Control for Cricket in India president also remarked that the current Pakistan side does not possess the same depth as some of their legendary teams of the past. "The quality of batsmanship like Inzamam (Ul Haq), Saeed Anwar, Mohammad Yousuf, Wasim (Akram), Waqar (Younis)... that was a different team. This team is not there anymore," Ganguly concluded.
(With PTI Inputs)
