India vs Pak: Key player battles to look forward to in the Asia Cup

MS Dhoni vs Hasan Ali

Hasan Ali's spell in the middle overs will play a crucial role in the outcome of the game

One of Pakistan’s most consistent wicket-takers in the middle overs, Hasan Ali has been in superb form. In 13 games post the Champions Trophy clash, Ali has taken 28 wickets that have come in crucial stages of the game.

With Ali’s reputation to dent the middle order of any batting line-up, it would be interesting to see how he fares against MS Dhoni. While he got the better of Dhoni on the previous occasion, Dhoni has the ability to hold the fort at any given situation.

Dhoni has a healthy average of 58.66 with 704 runs in 23 appearances post the last encounter. Given the scheme of things, it is highly likely that Dhoni will bat at number 4 so that he can strengthen India’s middle order and let Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya play their natural game at the depth.

If Dhoni is able to negate Ali’s spell without losing wickets, it will give freedom to the lower-order batsman to slog.