Both teams will be up against each other after a gap one year as they last played at the finals of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 where Pakistan emerged victorious. But, as no match involving these two is a dead rubber, it will be a treat for the fans who are eagerly waiting for the clash.
Pakistan won their last clash comfortably against Hong Kong to commence their tournament with a thumping victory. Usman khan’s wonderful spell of 7.3-1-19-3 won him the ‘Man of the Match’ award while Imam-ul-Haq’s unbeaten half-century sealed the victory for his team.
India are also playing their first match of the Asia Cup against Hong Kong and they decided to play with a completely different playing XI instead of their first-choice XI. They opted to play with five regular bowlers opting out Hardik Pandya from the side as an all-rounder. This may be due to the fact that they decided to rest some players after a hectic tour of England as players like KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah were also not seen in the Indian colours.
But in the next match, both Bumrah and Pandya are expected to make a comeback into the side. Both Khaleel Ahmed and Shardul Thakur are likely to be dropped to vacant a spot for Bumrah and Hardik. Pakistan, on the other hand, is expected to play with the same team that played against Hong Kong.
Playing XIs:
Pakistan: Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (c & wk), Mohammad Amir, Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Asif Ali, Usman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali.
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma (c), Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah.
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title: “Asia Cup 2018 India Vs Pakistan Preview” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-30” author: “Charles Ahmad”
History of the rivalry
The Indo-Pak rivalry is one of the most fierce and intensified sports rivalries in the world. The arch-rivals have always had one of the best cricket outings ever since this rivalry began. India and Pakistan have met 196 (59 Tests, 129 ODIs and eight T20Is) times on the cricket field in which quite surprisingly Pakistan have had the better of India by claiming 86 (12 Tests, 73 ODIs, and one T20I) victories whereas, India have managed to outplay Pakistan in 67 (nine Tests, 52 ODIs, and six T20Is) such occasions.
Rivalry at the Asia Cup
India and Pakistan have clashed 12 times in the Asia Cup till 2016 and the upcoming clash is going to be 13th of its kind. Here at the Asia Cup, India have the upper hand against Pakistan. India have won 6 matches out of the 12 matches played, with 1 match ending up in a Tie/NR, and Pakistan winning 5 of them.
Tale of the fact
Since the Indian skipper Virat Kohli is taking a break from the series, Rohit Sharma is set to lead the Men in Blue for the triumph with a perfect team with both experience and talented young lads in the squad. India will just be looking to dominate the tournament as they always do and march on the victory lap.
In the absence of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni must play that veteran and mentor role. In the absence of Ravi Shastri, MS Dhoni was seen mentoring the young lads. It is going to be joy to the eye to watch MS Dhoni once again in the national colours.
Squads
India -
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav,Yuzvendra Chahal, Shardul Thakur, Dinesh Karthik, and Khaleel Ahmed.
Pakistan -
Sarfraz Ahmed (captain and wk), Fakhar Zaman, Shan Masood, Babar Azam, Harris Sohail, Imam ul Haq, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hassan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Shoaib Malik, Junaid Khan, Usman Khan, and Shaheen Afridi.
When and Where it is going to take place
The match will take place on 19th September 2018 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, UAE. The coverage will start from 5 PM IST on the StarSports Network.
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