Hindustan Surkhiyan Desk: After more than a year’s time, the day has finally come when the two stalwarts of the cricketing world will take the field against each other. India and Pakistan — neighbours but arch-rivals — are going to play their second match in the ongoing Asia Cup at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday. More than just a game of cricket, it’s an emotional rivalry which already has created enough buzz in the social world.
Both of them have defeated the third team in their group — Hong Kong — and today will fight to end as the table toppers in the league stages.
Epic clash on the cards:
It’s a fact that both the teams have entered into the knockout stage but as usual, India vs Pakistan cricket match will always a high-voltage face-off. On one hand, India has a terrific batting line-up while on the other; Pakistan may turn ferocious with their bowling attack.
Will India miss Virat Kohli?
In a conversation with ABP news, Gautam Gambhir stated that if the batsmen score runs, bowlers scalp wickets and fielders remain intact, India won’t miss Kohli much. As we witnessed in the match against Hong Kong, Dhawan has gained his form while Rayudu remains phenomenal. Apart from them, India has a plethora of batsmen including Rahul, Dhoni, Karthik, Jadhav and Pandey to strengthen. Collectively, there are no reasons to worry.
But it will be interesting to see how Rohit handles the responsibility of leading the side against a full-fledged Pakistani side, that too, for the first time.
Pakistan’s strength: The brutal pace brigade
The Sarfraz Ahmed led side has Mohammad Amir, Usman Khan, Hasan Ali and Fahim Ashraf to handle the pace department. They are expertly capable of threatening any batting line-up. They have beaten Hong Kong by 116 runs and the memories of Champions Trophy finals remains fresh in every Indian mind.
India – Pakistan face to face in Asia Cup
12 clashes; IND – 6, PAK – 5, No Result – 1
This is the report card of every India vs Pakistan match played in Asia Cup. The last edition was a T20I, so we can say that both the sides are on the same page as far as 50-overs matches are concerned.
Advantages of UAE conditions:
Precisely, UAE has not been the cup of tea for the men-in-blue. They could be the dictators in other Asian nations but Pakistan wins the race in the Arab region. India have played 26 matches against Pakistan in UAE out of which they managed to win only 7. Pakistan have 19 matches in their name.
India’s glorious last decade
India have been dominating in the history of Asia Cup tournaments. Since 2008, India has captured 4 matches while Pakistan managed to win just 2.
In the last 8 years i.e., after 2010, both the nations have fought for 11 times and India became the winner on 7 occasions. Moreover, India remains the team to win this title for the most number of times. The men-in-blue have lifted the trophy 6 times while Pakistan could do it twice.
Here’re the squads:
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni(w), Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, K Khaleel Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, Lokesh Rahul, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed(w/c), Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Usman Khan, Shan Masood, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Nawaz, Junaid Khan, Shaheen Afridi
