By Vivek Prabhakar Singh
Dubai [UAE], February 22 : Virat Kohli's childhood coach, Raj Kumar Sharma, believes his former prodigy will shine against Pakistan in the upcoming Champions Trophy blockbuster clash on Sunday in Dubai.
In the clash of the heavyweights, Pakistan will fight to keep its title defence alive by facing bitter rival India. Pakistan found themselves in this position after surrendering to a 60-run defeat against New Zealand in the tournament opener.
On the other hand, India opened its win account with flying colours by sailing to a 6-wicket win over Bangladesh. During India's impressive show, Virat appeared to be a bit sluggish when he approached the two-faced surface of Dubai.
He crawled to a 22 from 38 deliveries before slicing it to Soumya Sarkar off legspinner Rishad Hossain. Virat, who has a history of embracing the pressure, especially against Pakistan, would be keen to hit those big numbers. Raj Kumar believes Virat, a "big player" in big matches, will deliver for India on Sunday.
"The whole world is excited for this match. Everyone is curious about what will happen tomorrow. I think India is a better team. He is a big player in big matches. He has performed on big occasions. I am hopeful that tomorrow will be the same story," he told ANI.
Virat boasts a prolific form against India's bitter rival. In 16 ODIs against Pakistan, Virat boasts 678 runs, averaging 52.15, including three centuries and two fifties.
On Sunday, if Pakistan continues their shambolic run against India, it will need plenty of permutations and combinations to work in its favour and keep its campaign alive. Raj Kumar feels India will have an advantage over Pakistan because of the balance within the squad.
"India will have an advantage because they have played on this ground. I think India is a better-balanced side, and that is why they will have an advantage in the game," he added.
India squad for Champions Trophy: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Pakistan squad for Champions Trophy: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.