Asia Cup: Every India-Pakistan game is a fresh start. History and numbers are irrelevant. These are the usual lines that are given to us. But it’s not even close to becoming that. KL Rahul is aware that Pakistan will want to re-use his off-stump. Virat Kohli is aware that he doesn’t speak as naturally at first as he would like to. Additionally, the withdrawal of Ravindra Jadeja from the competition—as well as the World Cup—due to a knee injury may call for a change in the starting lineup. Axar Patel is admitted right away? Does Rishabh Pant enter, or not? With the exception of Hardik Pandya, the bottom middle-order still doesn’t appear to be settled because Dinesh Karthik has yet to get a good turn with the bat.
Regardless of how you look at it, despite winning their first two games, beginning with Pakistan, not all of India’s issues have been resolved. However, their bowling is doing better. The absence of Harshal Patel and Jasprit Bumrah doesn’t appear to have hindered the team’s performance. Even though Avesh Khan might be absent, India appears to be in greater control in the department with to Yuzvendra Chahal’s performance and Pandya’s ability to serve as an excellent tactical foil in the middle overs. Rahul Dravid, the team’s head coach, stated on Saturday that Avesh Khan was feeling a touch under the weather and hoped to be available for the tournament’s latter games.
Since matchups will once again be crucial in Sunday’s game, India might enter the contest a little worried about the top three players who haven’t exactly lit the world on fire. Given that India tends to save its heavy hitting for the slog overs, run rate could also be a problem.
“Playing India is always a pressure game. The whole world, even beyond Asia, waits for it,” he told reporters on Friday. “The pressure will be equal on India and us, but the result will be with whoever remains brave and keeps calm,” he said. “I tell players, whether you play India or Hong Kong, it’s a game of bat and ball. So keep it simple. Yes, it’s a big game and our confidence is high but only hard work is in our hands, as the result is from God.”
Azam is almost in his home stretch so Rizwan is still not worried about his scores of 10 and nine. Finding form, according to Rizwan, is a matter of time for the Pakistan captain. “Babar is a superstar and is world No 1. He knows how to go about it and it has been just two innings and we sometimes keep saying that he doesn’t get an evil eye. He has scored a lot of runs for us in the past and this has been just two games,” Rizwan said.
Due to what is thought to be a side strain sustained during the Hong Kong game, Shahnawaz Dahani will miss the game. But because Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz, two slow bowlers, have developed strong forms thus far, Pakistan doesn’t appear to be very concerned with its bowling. A third India-Pakistan match (the championship game), based on past performance, is not improbable, but neither team wants to get ahead of themselves. “We have to play good cricket and make the final,” said Rizwan.”Our fans demand that we give our best and it is visible this time that the boys are giving it their all.”
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