It’s Round 2 of India vs Pakistan on another Super Sunday with higher stakes

Round 1 was a humdinger, expect the second round to be no different. India had the last laugh in the first encounter of the Asia Cup against Pakistan, and the second bout with much higher stakes. With every single victory likely a step towards the final, the first game of the Super 4s for the two teams will be as crucial as it gets.

It has already been a week since the two arch-rivals went punch for punch, and since then, they both have had dominant performances against Hong Kong to seal a spot in the Super 4s. While Pakistan’s victory was a much more imposing one, India had plenty to cheer about too. If India’s batting looked shaky against Pakistan in the opening game, Virat Kohli’s 31st half-century and Suryakumar Yadav’s fireworks against Hong Kong would’ve instilled some much-needed belief.

However, Pakistan have a world-class bowling attack as they demonstrated last Sunday against India, and again on Friday on their way to obliterating Hong Kong. Even in the absence of their pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah on debut was as impressive as it gets, hurrying the famed Indian top 3 in the opening game. Spinners Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz made light work of minnows Hong Kong, dismissing them for just 38.

However, despite scoring 193 against Hong Kong, the Pakistan batting’s fragility bar the top 3 could play a major factor in the game. Babar Azam is yet to get going in the tournament, and if India manage to prize out a couple of early scalps, they could well expose a raw underbelly of their opponents’ middle order. 

India themselves would have a couple of concerns of their own. Their seam bowling attack appears a little thin in the absence of senior bowlers and has so far been exposed in the tournament. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament, and his like-for-like replacement Axar Patel might not provide as strong a cover with the bat, although he is more than capable of producing 4 good overs that Jadeja would have been a bank for. Hardik Pandya who was India’s hero in the opener will have a slightly heavier load on his shoulders with the bat in the absence of the Saurashtra all-rounder.

It has been a while since cricket fans around the world got to savor the thrill of an India-Pak game on consecutive Sundays. With Afghanistan and Sri Lanka no pushovers either, rather likely to be tough contenders for the title, every point in the Super 4s will be crucial. The game is slated to be played at the same venue as last Sunday, and if the track offers as much assistance to the bowlers as it did in that game, expect another tough contest between bat and ball with two quality sides on display.

Squads:

India:

Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.

Pakistan:

Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali.

Match Details:

India vs Pakistan

Dubai International Stadium

4th September 2022

7:30 PM