"Pakistan's core group is bigger in numbers than India's" - Salman Butt ahead of Asia Cup 2023

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt believes his nation's core players are more in number and have clarity in decision-making under pressure than their Indian counterparts ahead of the Asia Cup 2023.

Butt shed light on how Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have often performed exceedingly well against Pakistan, something that hasn't been seen by the other batters in the Indian line-up in crunch games.

In a video on his YouTube channel, here's what Salman Butt had to say while comparing the core of India and Pakistan:

"India have two big batters in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. While other young batters have played a decent amount of cricket, they haven't quite performed in high-pressure games like India vs Pakistan. While Pakistan have Babar, Rizwan, Fakhar, Shadab etc. I feel Pakistan's core group is bigger in numbers than India's."

Butt also claimed that India's batting might struggle if Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are dismissed early. He said:

"Pakistan are playing well and each player knows his role. We have three pacers who all bowl 90 mph, while India have just 1-2. Their batting is brittle if you pick the two big wickets (Rohit & Kohli). India will have pressure of expectations against Pakistan, so that's also an added factor."

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Salman Butt on India's injury concerns

Salman Butt feels that while Pakistan look settled, there is uncertainty in India's camp, with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah returning from long injury lay-offs.

On this, he stated:

"Pakistan have clarity about the 18-20 players that they have and know their way of winning games and whom to take forward. India, on the other hand,...there are some concerns in the fast bowling department with no certainty on whether they will go full throttle."

Butt reckons Pakistan arguably go in with an edge over India in their Asia Cup encounter at Kandy on September 2.