England vs Pakistan, T20 WC final: History favours Men in Green, but can England stop Babar juggernaut?

A determined Babar Azam will be aiming to secure his seat beside great Imran Khan in Pakistan cricket’s Hall of Fame as his team takes on a formidable England in T20 World Cup final here on Sunday. 

pass of 2009 champions into final could even beat a Hollywood thriller script as y were down and out after first week of tournament with morale shattering defeats to arch-rivals India and Zimbabwe.

Pakistan raised hopes of a dramatic comeback in second week of a tournament with a win over South Africa and a prayer on ir lips for some divine intervention.

Just like in 1992, miracle happened when Nerlands produced a performance for s to shock South Africa and out of where, Pakistan were back in contention for a semifinal berth.

Critics say that in cricket, you never kw which Pakistan turns on a particular day and semifinal performance against a well rounded New Zealand side showed that when it comes to playing edge of seat ‘Russian Roulette’, ‘Green Machines’ are second to ne.

But just like everyone wants a slice of ’92 from Babar’s team, core of this current English team also has a date with history on this very Australian soil.

Seven years ago in 2015, this was country where England’s white ball cricket lay in tatters after y were dumped out of competition at group league st by Banglesh.

white ball cricket transformation started with horses for courses approach by ECB, leing to a sea change in mindset and intent of English players. That fearless approach was on full display against India on Thursday.

Shaheen Shah Afridis, Mohammed Wasim Jr.and Harris Raufs will need way more than just inspiration to get past likes of Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali.

se are all sought after practitioners of T20 cricket and all of m have abilities to silence 80,000 odd Pakistan fans, just like y did with bulk of 42,000 Indian fans in elaide.

Can Afridi do a Wasim Akram when Buttler is batting or Babar and Rizwan take game deep in ir own style like Imran Khan and Javed Miand did in that 1992 final.

Big matches always brings big performer to centre st and Stokes for one wouldn’t mind a repeat of his 2019 Lord’s performance to win silverware.

wear forecast predicts that final could be marred by rain on both Sunday and reserve day, which is Monday.

Unlike a rmal T20 game which could be a minimum five-over contest, event technical committee has kept provisions for minimum 10-overs a side contest with an early (3 pm Melbourne time) start on reserve day if needed.

On a spicy deck like MCG, presence of Mark Wood would have been an vant but tearaway quick’s back isn’t holding up well.

Despite pasting he got from Hardik Pandya, Chris Jordan is a fine T20 bowler in his own rights and would like to use his extensive BBL experience to get better of Pakistani batters.

If both batting units are taken into account, England with Hales, Buttler, Stokes, Phil Salt (in place of Dawid Malan), Harry Brook, Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone look stronger on paper against Pakistan with Rizwan, Babar, Shan Masood, Mohammed Haris and Iftikhar Ahmed.

But on big days, it is t always names that matter but also mindset and temperament to last distance.

Teams England: Jos Buttler (captain), Alex Hales, Phil Salt, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, il Rashid, Moeen Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Sam Curran, Mark Wood, Tymal Mills.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammed Rizwan, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammed Haris, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Mohammed Wasim, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shab Ahmed, Mohammed Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammed Hasnain.

Time: 1.30 pm IST.