Super Sunday on the cards as India lock horns with Pakistan

It is going to be the mother of all sporting rivalries as Team India walks into the yard against their arch-rivals, Pakistan. In what is going to be the tournament opener for both the teams, it will be a war of pride, bodies, and most importantly a couple of crucial points that would play a significant role in paving the path for the Super 4.

India will be coming to this contest, riding on some imperious form as they drowned Ireland, England, and Zimbabwe away from home across shorter formats of the game. There would be another crucial fact underlining India’s unrivaled dominion in the continent which states that the Men in Blue have been undefeated in the last couple of editions of the Asia Cup.

Pakistan will also be stepping foot in Dubai on the back of some late-found steam as they drowned the Netherlands comprehensively, securing a 3-0 win as their batters put up a scintillating display in the first couple of games while it was the bowlers who packed a thrilling punch from averting a humiliating defeat for the Men in Green as the ailing Netherlands came within inches of a historic win.

With all said and done, no antiquity would play its part when the two collide as it is a contest that is lived in the moment and no matter what has been achieved in the past, at the end of the day, it would fizzle out significantly if you lose out on the steam during the contest.

Venue Watch:

Dubai’s surface is pretty friendly for the bowlers with the average first innings score being 142 while the average score during a chase being 124. However, the number of matches won batting first is five games lesser than the 39 contests that have been won batting second. The wind speed would be fairly lingering between the mid-twenties while the temperature would be on a high 38 degrees Celcius laced with humidity of almost 36 percent which can make the playing conditions pretty uncomfortable. However, the onset of dew could allow the batters to ease slightly in the second half of the contest.

Team News:

Both sides would be walking into this prized encounter without two of their premium fast bowlers as India was depleted of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel ahead of their squad selection while Pakistan was forced to name their replacement for Shaheen Afridi in Mohammad Hasnain while Mohammad Wasim Jr was the latest addition to this mounting injury list.

Personal battles to watch out for:

Virat Kohli vs Haris Rauf: The former Indian captain would be hoping to put his lean patch behind him as he has been in significant form against Pakistan of late. Despite India’s struggles in the T20I World Cup opener, Kohli steadied India’s ship and guided them to a fighting total. Haris Rauf has some decent pace and would be targeting the corridor of uncertainty on the off-stump where Kohli has been vulnerable. It is a difficult call to predict who would eventually come out on top in this fierce battle.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar vs Babar Azam: Kumar has managed to rediscover his mojo and would be hoping to continue his decent run of form in Dubai as he challenges one of the finest batters in the cricketing circuit at the moment. It won’t be an easy batting surface but the kind of dominion that the Pakistani skipper has weaved in the past couple of years has seen him dictate a string of trickier surfaces with consummate ease. This would be another personal rivalry to savor as the two giants of the sport lock horns.

Hardik Pandya versus Shadab Khan: Hardik has played like a man possessed ever since his return to the national side and the kind of commanding displays that he has stitched in the past few series would make him a man to watch out for in the Indian echelons. Pakistan, on the contrary, would be pinning their hopes on Shadab Khan who has put up decent exhibitions in recent times and is Pakistan’s leading all-rounder.

Squads:

India:

Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, 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, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali.

Match Details:

India vs Pakistan

Dubai International Stadium

28th August 2022

7:30 PM