Asia Cup 2018 : IND v PAK Preview

ASIA CUP 2018 - Group A, India v Pakistan

Date & Time: 19th September, 3:30 PM Local Time

Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai

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India overcame a huge Hong Kong scare in their first Group A match in Dubai to secure a super four stage berth. Now they will look for redemption against their 'arch-rivals' Pakistan for the 2017 Champions Trophy Final loss. Once again, it will be a contest between India's batters and Pakistan's bowlers.

KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah may comeback after being rested for the first match. Shardul will make way for ODIs no.1 bowler Bumrah and it will be interesting to see whom they will axe to play KL Rahul. MS Dhoni's form is a concern and there is no better time to get back his lost 'mojo'.

Kedar Jadhav is giving India a great bowling option and with his successful comeback, Hardik may have to sit out again. Or else, they can rope in Hardik in-place of Khaleel Ahmed who had an impressive debut last night.

Pakistan started their campaign on a strong note against Hong Kong. They have a lot of similar bowling options and have the flexibility to rotate, to keep them all fit and fresh. In Shadab and Faheem, they also have two fine all-rounders lower down the order.

Arguably, with the World's current best ODI bowling attack also in their arsenal, it is time to improve their recent record against their neighbours India at their adopted home UAE. In this decade, they have won only two ODI's in the seven meets between them.

Pitch and Conditions: With glaring temperatures in UAE, it will be a physical test for players especially for India with two back to back games. Spin will again play a huge role in today's match.

Team Combinations:

KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah may come back to the playing XI after resting from the first match. Shardul and Karthik might be the ones to miss out.

India (Likely XI): Rohit Sharma(C), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, KL Rahul, MS Dhoni(wk), Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Khaleel Ahmed, Jasprit Bumrah

Pakistan are likely to go with an unchanged XI. If they want they can rest one of their fast bowlers as most of them are similar in their bowling actions.

Pakistan (Likely XI): Fahkar Zaman, Imam-Ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed(C & wk), Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Usman Khan

Stats:

--> India & Pakistan have played 12 matches in Asia Cup history. India won 6, Pakistan won 5 and 1 is No-Result.

--> Since CT'17 Final, India played 31 ODI's, winning 23 and losing 8. While Pakistan have just played 16 ODIs, winning 11 and losing 5. Interestingly, their series scorelines read 5-0 v SL, 0-5 v NZ & 5-0 v Zim.

--> In UAE, Pakistan have the upper hand v India with 19 wins in 26 games. India have just 7 wins and lost 19 games.

--> Chahal needs 2 wickets to reach 50 wickets in ODI's.

Who said what: "People say this is Pakistan's home ground and you can say that, but I believe the conditions here are even for every team. The weather here is like it is India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Pitches are also similarly slow. So it isn't really home ground for anyone. It is an even ground for all." - Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed

Squads

India: Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Y Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, J Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed

Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (C & wk), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-Ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Asif Ali, Shoaib Malik, Haris Sohail, Shan Masood, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nazaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Junaid Khan, Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi