Champions Trophy 2017: 5 Pakistani players who can surprise India

India vs Pakistan is one of those legendary rivalries which the whole cricketing world enjoys. Both the teams are capable of doing the unthinkable. They have the talent to produce some nerve-wracking matches. We have witnessed some outstanding cricket from these two over the years and when it comes to ICC events, India have had the upper hand. Pakistan are yet to beat India in the World Cups but they have beaten them twice in the Champions Trophy and will be looking to win for the third time. India, on the other hand, are one of the favorites to win the tournament. They have the artillery to beat any team in the world. However, Pakistan have some players who can take India by surprise. The men in blue need to be wary of some of the players from Pakistan. Let us have a look at 5 players from Pakistan India need to watch out. #1 Mohammad Hafeez Mohammad Hafeez of Pakistan. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images) Mohammad Hafeez has not been in good nick. He has had a tough run coming into this tournament. However, the form has never been a question for Hafeez when he is playing against India. His game notches up by default. Hafeez has scored plenty of runs against the arch-rivals India. He has a total of 396 runs against India in just 9 matches. He averages 44 against them while his career average is 32.73. That tells you a lot of about Mohammad Hafeez. He loves playing against India and he will be up for a fight on Sunday. #2 Babar Azam Babar Azam of Pakistan. (Photo by Morne de Klerk/Getty Images) Babar Azam has never played against India. However, he has had an instant impact after coming into the side. The 22-year-old is a class apart, he has already scored more than 1000 runs in One Day Internationals, which includes 5 centuries. This young batter averages 55 in ODIs. Batting at number 3, that is an outstanding record. In his 26 innings, Azam has scored 1322 runs at a strike-rate of 90. His 100 of 109 deliveries against Australia in Adelaide will remain one of his best innings and that innings defines the player he is. #3 Mohammad Amir Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir (Photo credit GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images) Mohammad Amir has not played enough cricket against India. He has played just 2 games and has taken 2 wickets. However, he is one of the immensely talented players. Amir can swing the ball and can easily clock around 145 kph. That makes him extremely dangerous. His recent form is quite worrying for Pakistan but his unpredictability is something India should be worried about. Also, the fact that he is playing under an intelligent captain will help him a lot. #4 Wahab Riaz Wahab Riaz of Pakistan. (Photo by Harry Trump – IDI/IDI via Getty Images) Wahab Riaz absolutely loves playing against India. He has played against India 5 times and has 9 scalps to his name. Out of those 9 wickets, 5 came in one single game in the 2011 World Cup. That seems a long time ago but given that India and Pakistan don’t play much hence it counts. Riaz was in terrific form recently as well. He was one of the stand-out performers in the Pakistan Super League. However, he has failed to carry that form into the ODIs. Wahab would still be a factor as his pace and swing would be tough to handle in the English conditions. #5 Shadab Khan Pakistan’s Shadab Khan. (Photo by JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) Shadab Khan is a spin prodigy. He has created ripples in the world cricket by bowling beautifully in the PSL first and then against the West Indies. This lad from Mianwali is just 18 years old and already is a master of his art. Shadab is a wrist spinner whose quality is to spin the ball. He has a knack of picking wickets while giving away absolutely nothing in return. Shadab just keeps the batters at bay and creates pressure. He is one of the players India should watch out for sure but even the other oppositions need to keep an eye on this one.

Topics

Featured Section

Current Series

IPL 2025 Auction

IPL Teams

Cricket Stats

ICC Rankings

Interviews

Twitter Reactions

Cricket Appeal

Social Tracker

More Links

# Follow Us

Other Sports

Champions Trophy 2017: 5 Pakistani players who can surprise India

Pakistan are yet to beat India in the World Cups but they have beaten them twice in the Champions Trophy.

#5 Shadab Khan

Latest Articles

IPL 2026 Auction: CSK targets for middle order, spin, pace

ILT20 2025-26: Match 16, SWR vs GG Match Prediction

Airport incident wasn’t ideal, but handled well: McCullum