T20 World Cup 2021: "History will be rewritten" - Aakash Chopra predicts winner of Pakistan vs Australia match

Aakash Chopra has backed Pakistan to "rewrite history" in Dubai by defeating Australia in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2021 on Thursday.

Pakistan and Australia have gone head-to-head four times previously in World Cup (ODI and T20I) knockout matches, with the Aussies stunningly winning all four. The latest clash came in the quarter-finals of the 2015 ODI World Cup where Josh Hazlewood's 4/35 and Steve Smith's 65 (69) had ensured an easy, six-wicket triumph for Australia.

However, speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra remarked that instead of history repeating itself, it will be rewritten. He said:

"Pakistan will win. History won't repeat itself but a new history will be rewritten."

Aakash Chopra's statement was part of his four predictions for today's match. For the other three, he predicted success for new-ball bowlers, left-arm seamers and leg-spinners from both teams. He explained:

"Two or more wickets will fall in the two powerplays. Both teams will attack with the new ball. Second, I believe left-arm seamers - Mitchell Starc and Shaheen Shah Afridi - will clinch three or more wickets together at various stages of the game. Leg-spinners [Adam] Zampa and Shadab [Khan] will pick up two more wickets together as well. Pakistan, for an Asian nation, don't play leg-spin as well as they should."

While Pakistan have been undefeated so far in the tournament, Australia have won four of their five matches.

Babar Azam and co. topped a relatively easier group by defeating India, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia. Aaron Finch's team, meanwhile, trounced West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, slenderly defeated South Africa and were comprehensively beaten by England to come second in Group 1.

"Final and semi-finals should have started earlier than usual" - Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra also talked about the importance of toss in Dubai - a venue where 10 of the 11 games have been won by teams fielding first. He said it's "quite crucial" but teams batting first can win too if they put up a good score.

The cricketer-turned commentator then went on to suggest that the ICC should have allotted an early start to the final and semi-finals to avoid the impact of dew on the match's result.

Aakash Chopra added:

"The match is in Dubai so the toss is quite crucial because it decides which team will bat second and have it easy. We have seen this a lot of times. But this doesn't mean the team batting first can't win; if you put up a good score, you can win as well. I had this suggestion that final and semi-finals should have started earlier than usual because considering the dew, let's not make toss the most important thing because contest is fun only when the match is equally exciting after the toss. If the toss starts favoring [one team] more then you starting winning by luck."

The high-octane game will begin at 7:30 PM IST. The winner of the clash will meet in New Zealand in the final on October 14.