Arch rivals India and Pakistan faceoff in Asia cup

Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi and India’s Gautam Gambhir in an argument during a 2007 ODI in Kanpur

Sunday evening will be spiced up as the two arch-rivals India and Pakistan will lock horns in the T20 Asia cup match, to be played in the Dubai international stadium at 7:30 pm.

While India is Playing without Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal patel. Pakistan will have to carry on without the services of Shaheen afridi and Mohammad Wasim Jr.

Team India

The revival of Indian batting has reached a turning point. Since the lethargic Tournament that occurred last October in the UAE, much exertion has been put into attaining a do-over. Commencing on Sunday, there seems to be an opportunity to try it for the very first time in a cross competition. India could use an adversary that regularly wins in the UAE as a beginning point to determine whether their 180 degree batting turnaround will break their 15-year T20 WC winless streak subsequently this year.

With such a decent top, India currently has the chance to adhere to this destruction strategy after improving their batting results over the past ten months in every part of the Twenty20 game by accepting the dangers and benefits about not performing cautiously. After their respective sabbatical, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli return, giving VVS Laxman and Rohit Sharma a crucial decision to make at the start of this campaign. Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, and Ravindra Jadeja make up India’s 5-6-7 finishing axis, with Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant acting as useful floaters. However, with their back to regular fortitude and as a sign of the batsman dominance hierarchy, this strategy may need to be adjusted.

Tactics: In this year’s T20Is, 12 of Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s Twenty strikes had arrive inside the PowerPlay. India will seek to utilise this skill against a team with a top-3 and middle-order batting average of 42.35 and 15.59, accordingly, since January 2021, which shows a noticeable talent gap amongst sides. Since January 2021, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have scored 1000 or more runs in T20I, therefore breaking that opening partnership should be India’s top bowling priority.

Team pakistan

All tempo issues and decision-making difficulties for Pakistan are related to its bowling. Due to Shaheen Afridi’s injuries, Pakistan has now been hindered vs an outfit that has had trouble handling the left-hander in previous matches. Mohammad Wasim Jr. is now unavailable due to injuries sustained during practise.

Shahnawaz Dahani and Naseem Shah are Pakistan’s two quick bowlers, and they have a cumulative total of two T20 Internationals of encounter. Hasan Ali, who had not been initially selected after a lacklustre year with ball, is now returned to the side. With his left-armer-free bowling options, Babar Azam must be precise, while leggie Shadab Khan, making his first Limited – overs match since December 2021, must also get going right away.

Tactics: Babar must use his skills wisely in Shaheen’s absence against an enthusiastic Indian batting lineup. It is important to wisely utilise the large sizes of the Dubai stadium, especially in the PowerPlay overs, when India has struck 71 sixes in 37 innings since January 2021. Pakistan has only hit 30 of them throughout this time period (in 10 less innings), which helps put the level of risk-taking into perspective. Timing the insertion of leggies Shadab and Usman Qadir will also be crucial, depending on where Rishabh Pant bats.

Head to head encounter

India has a better 8-5 win ratio over Pakistan at Asia Cups. Five of 6 Asia Cup competitions among the two teams since 2010 have been won by India.

Expectations

Dew’s effect causes problems for teams that bowl second. However, India has prepared for this possibility by electing to bat first if it is feasible since their last participated overseas. In 16 T20Is played following the 2021 World Cup, India has batted first 12 times and has lost just three of those contests.

Key players

Virat Kohli, Babar Azam,Rohit Sharma, Mohammad Rizwan,Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Haris Rauf.

What Captains have to say before match

Rohit Sharma (India): “The mood in the camp is buzzing. It will be a challenge to play against Pakistan without a doubt. We do talk about our losses, that’s how we improve as a team. That loss [in Dubai last year] did hurt us at that point, but I think it’s been a while since that game has been played. We learn from our mistakes. For now, it’s a fresh start for us and obviously, the team is coming out of playing a lot of T20 cricket. We will not think too much about what happened in October, that was a long time back.”
Babar Azam (Pakistan): “No heat at all [between the two sides]. It’s normal and we have to adjust to everything as a professional. Every match is important for me and it is my responsibility as captain that I give my 100 percent. Injuries are part of the team. We have a good bench strength and we have a young battery of fast bowlers who have performed well and I have belief in them.”

Squad

India : Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Ravi Bishnoi

Pakistan : Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Haider Ali