Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden believes leadership will be key in Sunday’s high-octane India-Pakistan clash in the T20 World Cup in Dubai.

Terming the game “a real dogfight”, Hayden, working with the Pakistan team as their batting consultant, stated that margin of error will be very little in this contest, which implies leadership will play an important role in terms of the outcome of the match.

Citing the examples of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Eoin Morgan, who led Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively, with success in the IPL, Hayden, during a media interaction, said: “Their individual performances were not as good but the way they led their troops played an important part in their teams reaching the IPL final in UAE conditions.

“I feel leadership will be key in the coming match as conditions in the UAE leave very little margin of error and so it’s going to be a real dogfight out there.”

There will be pressure on Pakistan captain Babar Azam, Hayden understands, but he also urges the premier batsman to stand out with his “command and presence”.

“There will be additional pressure on Babar as captain and batsman because he will be targeted and everyone will be wanting to, like they say, put him in their pocket. But Babar has command and presence, and he needs to fulfil that role,” Hayden asserted.

The former batsman also observed that having followed Indian cricket very closely over the years, he feels KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant pose the biggest threat to Pakistan in the game. “More or less I have watched KL Rahul grow and he is a major threat to Pakistan. I’ve watched him grow up as a boy. I have seen his struggles and his dominance in shorter formats.

“I have also seen someone like Rishabh, his brash nature and beautiful vision for the game, and how he has destroyed bowling attacks on getting the opportunity because he sees it that way,” Hayden said.