India without Kohli still a better side than Pakistan opines Sourav Ganguly

Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly believes the current squad of India led by Rohit Sharma are favourites to win the clash against Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup. The current Indian team is led by stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma who has been one of India’s leading run-scorers in the 50-over format with three double centuries to his credit.

Rohit Sharma’s deputy will be another successful Indian opener, Shikhar Dhawan. Virat Kohli has been rested from the tournament after a draining tour of England. Virat Kohli and chief selector MSK Prasad had a discussion over the workload management of certain players featuring in all 3 formats of the game. Virat Kohli was rested from the series only after a healthy discussion with the selectors.

Sourav Ganguly believes the current Indian squad is good enough to beat Pakistan in Dubai scheduled on the 19th September. The dashing left-hander who led India to World Cup finals in 2003 opined that Virat Kohli’s absence in the tournament is not going to make a big difference as the existing players in the squad have got enough firepower to beat the Pakistanis on their adopted home soil in the United Arab Emirates

"Virat Kohli's absence won't be a factor, they are a better side," said Ganguly. When asked about the balance between 2 sides, Ganguly expressed, "It will be a 50-50 contest in Dubai."

Last time both teams met at the finals of ICC Champions Trophy in June 2017 and after a spectacular all-around performance, Pakistan won the match by 180 runs. Pakistan comfortably won their opening match against the Hong Kong last Sunday. If India wins their clash against Hong Kong on Tuesday, both India and Pakistan will be advancing to the Super 4 in Group A.

On Monday, 17th September, Afghanistan staged a big upset by beating five times Asia Cup title holder Sri Lanka by 91 runs. With this win, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have both qualified for the Super 4 in Group B.

Both skippers Rohit Sharma and Sarfaraz Ahmed have attended the press conference before Wednesday’s epic clash. Sarfaraz Ahmed is aware of India’s strengths and weaknesses and thinks his side needs to be clinical in all 3 departments to beat the Indians.

Rohit Sharma on the other side, as usual, appeared cool in his demeanour and said before the 2019 World Cup the team is going to try a number of permutations and combinations in the batting line-up. The stand-in skipper has said that the batting slot is still open for No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 spots. This statement probably gives an indication that MS Dhoni is going to bat at No. 5 to guide the innings till the end.

Before the epic rivalry gets on-ground, it will be interesting to watch India’s strategy against the minnows Hong Kong on Tuesday who would be desperately trying to register a win after Afghanistan’s heroics against the Sri Lankans.