ISLAMABAD: Reckoning that India still fear big-hitting Shahid Afridi due to their recent loss in the Asia Cup, legendary all-rounder Imran Khan on Thursday said the flamboyant player was one of the top T20 performers in world cricket who could bowl as well as hit huge sixes when required.

Imran said Afridi would be the key to Mohammad Hafeez-led Pakistan when they open their World Twenty20 campaign with the game against arch-rivals India in Dhaka on Friday.

“Afridi’s bowling and batting are ideally suited to T20 format,” Imran said while talking to a TV channel.

“In a five-day Test you can easily say that a team that do consistently well win the match. Whereas in a 20-overs-a-side game, the situation can change in a matter of two, three overs. Therefore, predicting a winner [in T20] is difficult.”

Imran said when he was the captain, he was never shy to change the batting order whenever the situation demanded. “Moreover, I had always told my team members not to play with the fear of losing.”

Imran said that Pakistan had a more balanced outfit than India but their approach needed to be right for the big match.

“Any game against India is a pressure game because of the tensions and expectations associated with the match. But I would only advise our players to go out and play fearlessly without any fear of defeat. They must play their natural game and not worry about losing,” Imran said.

Another former Test captain, Javed Miandad, meanwhile, pointed out that Pakistan needed to exploit India’s limited bowling resources.

“We must look to chase because trying to set a big total given huge depth in Indian batting will only add to pressure on us,” Miandad, one of the master of the game, stated.

He highlighted that Indians had always faltered whenever Pakistan players attacked.

“Hafeez has to lead from the front both with bat and ball. And with Afridi in good touch these two can play vital role in helping the team win the match.”

Former captain Younis Khan believed that India on Friday would be under more pressure than Pakistan.

“They have not been doing very well in recent times and in contrast Pakistan have done well [in ODIs] against South Africa and Sri Lanka. Plus the way India lost the close match in the Asia Cup gives us the psychological advantage for this [World T20] match, and we must exploit this.”

Inzamam-ul-Haq said Pakistan must remain confident against India, noting Hafeez and company had depth in batting department bowling was a question mark.

He said the Indian bowlers’ recent run of poor form in ODIs and T20s would be a source of great concern for M.S. Dhoni.

“Their bowlers are struggling to defend even decent totals and therefore our batsmen should not be afraid to attack them right from the word go,” Inzamam insisted.

Former Test batsman Basit Ali said all Pakistan guns should be blazing against India in their World T20 opener on Friday.

Basit called for using Sharjeel as opener, “Sharjeel is an explosive batsman and should open with Ahmed Shehzad.”