India skipper Rohit Sharma, while speaking at the pre-match press conference before the all-important India-Pakistan clash in the Asia Cup 2022, said that his team’s priority is to play well but not shy away from mistakes. The focus of the Indian team is not on just winning against Pakistan, but on preparing for the T20 World Cup in Australia, which is just a few months away.
Babar Azam, on the other hand, has problems of his own with the unavailability of Shaheen Afridi and Mohd Wasim Jr in his fast bowling arsenal. Hasan Ali has been called upon and there is still Haris Rauf and Mohd Hasnain to fall back on. But would they be enough against a mighty experienced Indian batting lineup?
Pakistan openers vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar: The battle to watch out for
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been in great touch and almost 90 per cent of his last 20 T20 wickets have come in the powerplay. On the other hand, Pakistan’s opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohd Rizwan has been in solid touch as well. They have hit more than 1,000 runs together and are a prime reason why Pakistan haave lost only once in their last 17 T20Is in UAE.
While Bhuvi will try and breach the Babar-Rizwan wall, the Pakistan team also knows that beyond that wall, it would be impossible to put pressure on India. Hence the battle between Bhuvi and the Pakistani openers is going to be a mouthwatering clash.
Pitch at Dubai: Win the toss and bowl first!
In the World Cup that took place in October-November 2021 and even in the IPL 2021 that preceded the global showpiece event, the formula was to win the toss and bowl first. Dew works its wonders in the second innings in the gulf country that helps the batters chase down totals easily. Hence, in all probability, the formula is going to remain the same for this World Cup too.
IND vs PAK: How will the teams shape up?
The biggest concern for India is that it must choose one between Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik as playing both is not possible with KL Rahul in the playing eleven. India must also learn to live without Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel and the young shoulders of Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khaan would have to share the fast bowling burden with Bhuvneshwar Kumar
India Predicted Playing 11
Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant/Dinesh Karthik, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan
Pakistan’s issues with injury will force them to go with Mohd Hasnain and Haris Rauf as main bowlers and would leave them with no left-arm bowling options as both Shaheen and spinner Imad Wasim are not available. Though it will have two quality leg spinners in Usman Qadir and all-rounder Shadab Khan.
Pakistan Predicted Playing 11
Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah/Shahnawaz Dahani
India vs Pakistan: Who has the edge?
Giving an edge to any team in such a huge clash will be a bit too much. Though India have lost only three T20Is out of their last 16 since the T20 World Cup, Pakistan have also lost only once in UAE. If Pakistan is without Shaheen Afridi, India also doesn’t have the services of Bumrah. Thus it is going to be a 50-50 clash.
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