India are set to face Pakistan on February 15, and the pre-match preparations have been riddled with a huge controversy. Earlier, the Pakistan government had announced a boycott of the India match, and then took a U-turn after intervention by a delegation from the ICC. Ex-cricketer Michael Clarke dropped a huge prediction ahead of the match, claiming that India will win the game in Colombo.
Speaking on the Beyond 23 Cricket podcast, he said, “I’ve said it all along, I’m going to go India to win. I feel like Pakistan haven’t been able to handle the pressure that comes with playing against India over a long period of time now. I think Pakistan at the moment have got some issues off the field and have done for a little while. Even the conversation around whether they would play the game or not, does not help anyone in the team.”
“But I think India are going to dominate, they are at their best. Pakistan are not at their best and they need to be. They need to play their absolute best game and India need to miss some opportunities for them to win. So India to beat Pakistan.”
Clarke further explained that the pitches in Sri Lanka are different from India’s, and they turn more. “Playing in Sri Lanka is very different to playing in India. The pitches turn a bit more and definitely a lot slower. So I don’t think you are going to see as many high scores. I reckon 190 is going to be about par,” he said.
“India versus Pakistan, there has been a lot of talk from the past couple of weeks. Pakistan got a win as well. India look to be in absolute cracking form. So it is always a big game. The most recent publicity will probably only build that game up even more. From a World Cup perspective, all the talk is about that game now,” he added.