The great match of Asia Cup 2023 is going to be played between India and Pakistan today i.e. on 2 September Saturday. Team India will open their campaign in this tournament against the Babar Azam-led Pakistan team, while this will be Pakistan’s second match in the Asia Cup 2023. Pakistan played their first match against Nepal in which they registered a big win by 238 runs. However, his real test will be against India today. Pakistan’s record against Team India in Asia Cup has not been good. India and Pakistan have met a total of 13 times in the ODI Asia Cup, with India maintaining their dominance by winning 7 times. Besides, this Asia Cup will be like a World Cup dress rehearsal for both the teams as experienced batsmen like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will face Pakistan’s formidable pace attack led by Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi. The Asia Cup is being held in the 50-over format, which will be important for the preparation of the teams participating in the World Cup to be held in India in October-November. For the organizers and cricket lovers, the match between India and Pakistan has been better than all other matches.
Indian cricket fans will still remember Kohli’s brilliant shot off Rauf in Melbourne in the T20 World Cup last year. At the same time, Pakistani fans will also not forget when Rohit, who failed to face Shahin’s fast ball, was dismissed lbw.
It is this kind of performance that makes legends out of players and the Asia Cup will give the stars of both the teams another chance to reach the pinnacle of popularity in their respective countries. However, the weather department has predicted rain on Saturday, which is likely to dampen the hopes of fans of both the teams.
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The Indian camp will be praying that the trio of Virat, Rohit and Shubman Gill will go up against Rauf, Shaheen and Naseem Shah. Given the weather, the Pakistani trio could prove dangerous in the powerplay.
There is still confusion regarding the middle order of both the teams. The absence of KL Rahul, who was ruled out of the first two matches, has added to India’s woes. In such a situation, wicket-keeper batsman Ishan Kishan can be fielded in the middle order, but nothing is decided about the number four and number five.
Kishan has never batted at number five and averages just 22.75 in the middle order. On the other hand, there is no fitness issue in the Pakistan team but the players do not have much experience in ODIs. Since World Cup 2019, Pakistan have played only 29 ODIs while India have played 57 matches.
Pakistan have played 12 out of 29 matches this year. Its top three batsmen Babar Azam (689 runs), Fakhar Zaman (593 runs) and Imamul Haq (361 runs) have scored consecutive runs. Usama Mir, Saeed Shakeel and Agha Salman, however, have failed to perform consistently.
Number seven batsman Iftikhar Ahmed and number eight batsman Shadab Khan have often been responsible for increasing the run rate. Iftikhar also scored a century against Nepal while Shadab scored 48 against Afghanistan last week. The position of India and Pakistan is almost the same regarding the middle order.
The Indian attack has been strengthened by the return of Jasprit Bumrah and Diggaj Krishna in the bowling. Both bowled a lot in the T20I series against Ireland but it remains to be seen how they fare in the 50-over format. In such a situation Mohammad Shami can be preferred.
Pakistan’s Shaheen, Naseem and Rauf have taken 49 wickets together this year. In such conditions, the real test of the Indian batsmen will be on the bouncy Pallekele pitch. Ravindra Jadeja, who will bat at number seven, is a definite choice in spin.
India will have to choose wisely between Kuldeep Yadav and Akshar Patel. Kuldeep has taken 22 wickets in 11 ODIs this year while Akshar has taken just three wickets in six matches. Pakistan’s Shadab has taken 11 wickets in eight matches.
Teams of India and Pakistan are as follows.
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Kuldeep . Yadav, Famous Krishna, Sanju Samson.
Pakistan Team: Babar Azam (Captain), Abdullah Shafiq, Fakhar Zaman, Imamul Haque, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Naseem Shah , Shaheen Afridi, Saeed Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir.