According to the former Pakistani captain Salman Butt, Indian bowlers used to be challenged by batsmen like Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail who weren’t even wearing helmets. He claimed that in the past, the Pakistani hitters wore merely hats and took the Indian fast bowlers to task since they lacked velocity in their deliveries. When questioned on a show why Shahid Afridi was not utilised as an opening batter in Asian conditions, Butt made the audacious statement.
“Pehle India ki jo bowling thi usme Saeed Anwar aur Aamir Sohail jab opening jaate the wo helmet nahi pehente the… Topiyan pehen ke unko maar rahe hote the, kyuki uss samay pace nahi thi (The bowling unit that India possessed during the time of Saeed Anwar and Amir Sohail didn’t have pace. This is why the two batters did not even bother to wear helmets and used to hit the Indian bowlers by wearing only caps,” said Butt.
It should be noted that due to the rising political tensions between India and Pakistan, neither country has played a bilateral series against the other since January 2013. As a result, there haven’t been many games between the teams in the last ten years for the spectators to see. The 2018 T20 World Cup will feature a match between India and Pakistan on October 23 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The 2022 Asia Cup saw two recent encounters between the rivals. Pakistan defeated India by the same margin in the Super 4 stage as they did in the group stage match, which India won by a margin of five wickets.
