The countdown has begun for the showpiece match of the Asia Cup 2018: India vs Pakistan – considered the most popular fixture in the international cricket calendar.
The two neighbours haven’t met in an international match for more than a year now; the last time being the Final of the ICC Champions Trophy in June 2017.
Looking back at the history of India-Pakistan contests, the latter certainly hold the edge. The numbers sway in favour of Pakistan even in matches played in the UAE – earlier several of the matches between the two teams would be played at Sharjah.
However, despite Pakistan prevailing over India in the ICC Champions Trophy Final, it is India who have dominated their neighbour in recent times; India have prevailed in 7 of the 11 occasions they have come up against Pakistan in this decade.
The Indian team will be handicapped to a certain extent with the captain being rested from the tournament: Virat Kohli - the captain - may not be missed as much as Virat Kohli – the batsman. The 29-year old has been in scintillating form with the bat in the last few years, and it is no surprise that he is India’s top run-getter in international cricket this year too
In the absence of Kohli, India need the senior batsmen in the current line-up – stand-in captain Rohit Sharma, vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan and former captain MS Dhoni to give a good account of themselves.
Team India have a few more than 21 ODIs left from now until the start of the World Cup 2019. Team India management need to use these matches to find individuals who they think should travel to England for the World Cup, find answers to the various team combination questions and give players the opportunity to settle into roles earmarked for them.
In the last 12-18 months, Team India have tried to find individuals who can fit into the middle order role, but they are no closer to the answer now than they were then. Team India management have used up as many as 10 players in the middle order in ODIs since the start of last year and it is possibly fair to say at this stage only MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya are certainties in the XI.
As priority, Team India need to put an end to the uncertainty relating to MS Dhoni’s batting position; in ODIs since January 2017, the Indian team management has used Dhoni in a variety of positions – though he has had just the one outing at the number he prefers (number four).
Left-arm pacers – who bowl from an awkward angle – have caused India plenty of grief in the past, and the Pakistan squad named for the Asia Cup has four outstanding left-arm pacers. In the immediate context of the match against Pakistan, India need to find a way to keep the left-arm quicks in the Pakistan line-up at bay.
From a bowling perspective, India need to watch out for the two left-handers at the top of the Pakistan batting line-up. In July, Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman pummelled the Zimbabwe bowlers repeatedly and one occasion even posted the highest opening partnership in ODIs.
Pakistan have middle-order problems of their own – and that is an area the Indian team must try to exploit. The one person who could deny the Indian bowlers is Shoaib Malik – who has a fantastic record against India. The 36-year old has been in outstanding form with the bat in recent times, and he will want to further enhance his already impressive record against India.
Both camps will be aware that it isn’t about just this one match. Given the way the two teams have been grouped and given the tournament format, there is a strong possibility that India and Pakistan will meet more than once in this tournament: once in the group stage, once in the Super Four stage, and possibly a third time in the Final.
India Likely XI
Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal.
India reserves: Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed.
Pakistan Likely XI
Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Asif Ali, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Junaid Khan, Usman Khan.
Pakistan reserves: Faheem Ashraf, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood.
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