In their debut match in the Asia Cup at the Dubai International Stadium, India will take on Pakistan. In the lead-up to the game, both teams have maintained their composure and decorum
Although both India and Pakistan will be playing each other for the first time since the 2021 World Cup, the Asia Cup match between the two sides is expected to be a heated contest.
Since the Asia Cup is effectively a dress rehearsal for the most important ICC event of the year, the T20 World Cup, which will take place in Australia later in the months of October and November, the game may have extra significance for cricket fans and players.
The two teams competing against one another on Sunday, August 28, at the Dubai International Stadium are the strongest units in the tournament, and it would be a lie to say that one did not expect even a minimal amount of tension between the two sides.
It hasn’t been anything like how it normally is when arch-rivals meet each other.
Neither team has launched a press campaign against a specific player, although Virat Kohli has publicly referred to the opposing captain as “probably the best batter across all formats,” while the current Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, has asked Babar Azam when he plans to wed.
Even while the togetherness may have been enjoyable, one can anticipate some fierce play from the players on the field. The Indian team’s social media accounts have released some optimistic training images.
The top of the batting line-up of Babar Azam’s composure and Mohammad Rizwan’s fidgetiness may be the most well-balanced recipe available. Virat Kohli appears to be in dangerous form against spinners, Rohit Sharma appears to be in wonderful form, and so on.
In front of their highly anticipated match against Pakistan, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma did not reveal his playing 11. The Indian skipper stated that India would experiment with a few different strategies regardless of the outcome of the match and thus the playing XI had not yet been decided.
“Mood in the camp is buzzing. Fresh tournament and new start. Not thinking about what happened in the past. Challenging to play Pakistan. Taking one game at a time!” Sharma said on Saturday in the pre-match press conference.
“We have not decided on playing XI. We will watch the match tonight and decide. Match will be played on the same wicket,” he further added.
Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel will not be participating in the tournament for India as each player’s injury has prevented them from joining the national team. The young bowlers in the Indian team, according to Rohit, are more than capable of holding their own. He even made a passing suggestion that Dinesh Karthik might be included.
“All the young bowlers stand a chance to get a nod in. We are open to give responsibility and see how they respond. We will go in with the best possible XI. Dinesh off late has done well in recent times,” Rohit said.
“We have decided to try out a few things. We might not be successful. As far as combinations are concerned you will get to know tomorrow. We have decided in the group to try a few things irrespective of the result,” he further added.
“We have decided to try out a few things. We might not be successful. As far as combinations are concerned you will get to know tomorrow. We have decided in the group to try a few things irrespective of the result,” he continued.
“We have spoken about the loss to Pakistan last time. No point. We tried to correct the mistakes. It is a fresh start. October was a long time back,” the captain said.
“Boards decide on such important issues. We will go where we were sent. Difficult question to answer. If we are asked to play, we have to,” Rohit replied to the question if bilaterals needed to start between India and Pakistan.
