Asia Cup 2018, India vs Pakistan: Preview

India v Pakistan - ICC Champions Trophy Final
India v Pakistan - ICC Champions Trophy Final

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan are set to lock horns in the fifth match of the ongoing Asia Cup at the Dubai international stadium, Dubai on September 19.

Both teams will be up against each other after a gap one year as they last played at the finals of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 where Pakistan emerged victorious. But, as no match involving these two is a dead rubber, it will be a treat for the fans who are eagerly waiting for the clash.

Pakistan won their last clash comfortably against Hong Kong to commence their tournament with a thumping victory. Usman khan's wonderful spell of 7.3-1-19-3 won him the 'Man of the Match' award while Imam-ul-Haq's unbeaten half-century sealed the victory for his team.

India are also playing their first match of the Asia Cup against Hong Kong and they decided to play with a completely different playing XI instead of their first-choice XI. They opted to play with five regular bowlers opting out Hardik Pandya from the side as an all-rounder. This may be due to the fact that they decided to rest some players after a hectic tour of England as players like KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah were also not seen in the Indian colours.

But in the next match, both Bumrah and Pandya are expected to make a comeback into the side. Both Khaleel Ahmed and Shardul Thakur are likely to be dropped to vacant a spot for Bumrah and Hardik. Pakistan, on the other hand, is expected to play with the same team that played against Hong Kong.

Playing XIs:

Pakistan: Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (c & wk), Mohammad Amir, Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Asif Ali, Usman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali.

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma (c), Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah.

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Edited by Naveen K
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