T20 World Cup 2024: Here is why Sourav Ganguly thinks Pakistan can 'threaten' India

Former cricketer Sourav Ganguly has warned India about the threat their arch-rivals, Pakistan possess ahead of the much-anticipated clash between the two sides in upcoming T20 World Cup 2024, on 9 June in New York.

Ganguly highlighted India's impressive historical record against Pakistan while acknowledging the potential threat Pakistan poses in the T20 format.

"Our record against Pakistan has been very, very good over a long period of time. In the T20 format, probably Pakistan is more dangerous compared to 50- overs (format). We beat them in Ahmedabad when they came to India and we beat them easily," he said while talking in an event in Mumbai.

"India is superior and if they play well, if they play freely and I keep saying the word 'freely' all the time because (in) the last World Cup in Australia, I don't think we played freely.

"Just put all the cobwebs behind. Don't worry about winning or losing. Don't think about winning the World Cup. Just go and play every game," he added.

He expressed confidence in India's strong prospects for the T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the USA and the West Indies, commencing on Saturday.

According to Ganguly, India's chances are strengthened by their immense talent and the necessity to adopt a fearless approach to the game.

"India have very good chances in the World Cup. India will have to play like a T20 team. There is enormous talent," he said.

"Play without fear and just keep hitting. There is enormous talent, (this is) a team which has (Virat) Kohli, Rohit (Sharma), Surya (Suryakumar Yadav), (Rishabh) Pant, (Shivam) Dubey, (Hardik) Pandya, (Ravindra) Jadeja, Axar (Patel), (Jasprit) Bumrah, Sanju (Samson)," he said when asked about India's chances.

"That's why I say everyone is capable of winning it for India and the only way they will do it is (if they) just play with freedom.

"Play with that extra batsman and hit from the first ball, hit till you have to defend (and) play like the last ball," he added.

Meanwhile, he also opened up on the idea of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as the opening pair.

"It is Virat and Rohit, both should open. Virat has been in tremendous touch in the IPL, he is a great player," he said.

Along with Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, and the USA, India are in Group A of the T20 World Cup 2024.

Squad

Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.

Schedule

• India vs Ireland - June 5 (New York)
• India vs Pakistan - June 9 (New York)
• India vs USA - June 12 (New York)
• India vs Canada - June 15 (Lauderhill)