Pakistan and India will face each other in the Super Four of the ongoing Asia Cup on 21st September at Dubai.
Match Preview:
It’s time for Pakistan versus India once again, and this game promises to be both interesting and personal given the off-the-field drama. One side has issues with handshakes, while the other has issues with the match referee. Ever since their last meeting on September 14th, there has been a lot of noise.
Pakistan lodged a protest against the match referee, who later issued an apology, while the ICC considered sending Pakistan a legal notice for breaching the code of conduct. To add to the drama, the Pakistani captain skipped the pre-match press conference yesterday, making it clear that the team only wants to focus on the game.
Turning to the match itself, India recently faced Oman in their last group fixture, and now, in less than 48 hours, they will take on Pakistan. While Oman failed to secure a win, they did manage to expose some of India’s weaknesses, which Pakistan could exploit if they are serious about securing victory. The Indian batters, in particular, struggled against pace-off deliveries bowled by the Oman attack.
India may also have some injury concerns, with Axar Patel in doubt after injuring himself while attempting a catch against Oman, though nothing has been confirmed yet. Overall, India does not have many issues to worry about, aside from the form of Shubman Gill and Jasprit Bumrah.
As for Pakistan, their batting remains a major concern after being reduced to 99/6 against the UAE. Surprisingly, Shaheen Afridi has contributed more with the bat so far, though he has not been equally effective with the ball. Meanwhile, Saim Ayub has impressed with the ball but is yet to score a run in this Asia Cup—an unusual dynamic that reflects Pakistan’s unpredictable performances.
Captain Salman Ali Agha has also been disappointing in this tournament, but if there is ever a time to step up and prove himself as a hero, this is the game. It will also be interesting to see what changes Pakistan makes to their playing XI, given they made two alterations against the UAE, bringing in Haris Rauf and Khushdil Shah.
Probable Playing XI:
India (possible): 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Sanju Samson (wk), 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Axar Patel/Harshit Rana/Arshdeep Singh, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.
Pakistan (possible): 1 Sahibzada Farhan, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Salman Agha (capt), 5 Hasan Nawaz, 6 Khushdil Shah, 7 Mohammad Haris (wk), 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Abrar Ahmed.
Pitch and weather report:
Although it is more common in Dubai than Abu Dhabi, spin is king throughout the United Arab Emirates. If Axar is healthy, expect India to return to using three spinners. Chasing teams typically have a big advantage in Dubai; at one point, they won 15 consecutive Full-Member-vs-Full-Member T20Is here.
However, recent results have been more evenly distributed; in the last five of these matches, the chasing team has won three and lost two. Suryakumar claims that dew has not been as noticeable as it was during the 2021 T20 World Cup, when India suffered a significant defeat due to toss losses.
Head-to-head record:
Pakistan and India have faced each other in 14 games out of which 11 have won by the team India.
Where to Watch:
India: Sony Liv app and website (sonyliv.com).
Pakistan: Tamasha and Myco
Sri Lanka: Dialog ViU app
Bangladesh: Toffee and Tapmad.
UAE and Mena region: StarzPlay
Afghanistan: Toffee app and websites
