Fans can watch the India vs. Pakistan cricket match live online and see whether the sport’s biggest rivalry can live up to the hype surrounding the ICC World T20 match.
Anticipation has been building for Saturday’s match since December 11, when Dharamsala was named as the venue. The match had been in limbo for much of the last few weeks as Pakistan team officials raised security concerns about the location, ultimately prompting the ICC to move the match.
Now, as the match nears, the teams are both looking forward to what could be a historic contest. The teams meet Saturday in Kolkata at 7:30 p.m. local time (2 p.m. GMT/10 a.m. ET). The anticipation is already building, with R Ashwin calling the match “probably bigger than the Ashes.”
Fans who watch the India vs. Pakistan cricket match live online will see if the Indian team can respond to what was a crushing loss to New Zealand in the World T20 opener. India could do nothing against the fantastic New Zealand spinners, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, and Nathan McCullum.
India’s opening match loss by 47 runs was the surprise of the tournament.
#WasimAkram , #SunilGavaskar pick #Pakistan as favorites over #India : https://t.co/hS32HVuyB9 #Cricket #WT20 pic.twitter.com/olvAU6Hp1U
— ? ? ? ? – Sports Management Agency (@GameSportsMgmt) March 18, 2016
India had been seen as the far-and-away favorites to win the ICC World T20 tournament — especially after India’s unblemished run through the Asia Cup and wins in 10 of the last 100 T20 matches — but after the loss to New Zealand that is now being called into question.
Whoever may be the favorite on Saturday, both teams agree that the contest will be a huge one.
“This rivalry is huge, it’s very hard to put a finger and tell you how huge. It’s probably bigger than the Ashes,” Ashwin said, via the BBC .
“As far as the Indians and Pakistanis go, I don’t think they watch this game as a game of cricket. It’s more of a border rivalry. They want to get one up on each other.
“People put their emotions into the game. For the players, it’s all about keeping their emotions aside and trying to play the best way we can.”
But fans who watch the India vs. Pakistan cricket match live online could be seeing something bigger than the sport. Indian parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor wrote that cricket could help ease tensions between the neighboring countries, and Pakistan coach Waqar Younis agreed.
“There is history between the two nations but also cricket history. We should take it as a sport,” Younis said. “It’s the most-watched game so we should all cherish that and feel proud of it. The way we have played cricket in the past 50 years it’s a treat to watch for the world.”
Viewpoint: Can India-Pakistan cricket promote peace? https://t.co/LlW3Dg9BLX
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 16, 2016
The last time these teams met, India made easy work of Pakistan in the Asia Cup tournament. Saturday’s match should be much tighter, especially after India’s difficulties against spinners came to light against New Zealand.
Rosters India Squad MS Dhoni*†, R Ashwin, JJ Bumrah, S Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, RA Jadeja, V Kohli, Mohammed Shami, P Negi, A Nehra, HH Pandya, AM Rahane, SK Raina, RG Sharma, Yuvraj Singh
Pakistan Squad Shahid Afridi*, Ahmed Shehzad, Anwar Ali, Imad Wasim, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Nawaz (3), Mohammad Sami, Sarfraz Ahmed†, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz
Fans who want to watch the India vs. Pakistan cricket match live online can click here for streaming video through Star Sports.
[Picture by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images]