T20 World Cup: Battle of old friends Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer as Pakistan face Australia in semis

T20 World Cup 2021: Former teammates Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer will go up against each other as rivals as Pakistan take on Australia in the 2nd semi-final of the showpiece event in Dubai on Thursday.

When Australia take on Pakistan in the second semi-final of T20 World Cup 2021, two former teammates and good friends will be going up against each other, leading to an unusual rivalry. Justin Langer, the head coach of Australia, and Matthew Hayden, the batting consultant of Pakistan, have shared plenty of memorable moments as teammates when they were part of an all-conquering Australian side having scored more than 6000 runs as a hugely successful opening pair in Tests. However, they will have to focus on professional pride more on Thursday, November 11 in Dubai.

While Langer has been at the helm of the Australian team since 2018, Hayden came on board to work with Pakistan after Misbah-ul-Haq stepped down as Pakistan head coach in the lead up to the T20 World Cup. Hayden has not had a lot of time to work with Babar Azam's men but has made an instant impact with his presence in the dressing room. On the other hand, Langer has been under pressure with talks of dressing room rift and he would want to prove his naysayers wrong at the World Cup.