Asia Cup 2022, Match 2: India vs Pakistan Match Preview, Pitch Report and Probable Playing XI
This will be their first meeting after the 2021 World Cup.
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Aug 27, 2022 8:49 pm
India vs Pakistan- Source (Twitter)
A Sea of blue and a hue of green will descend at the Dubai International stadium as India and Pakistan will draw swords here for the marquee clash tomorrow on Sunday in the second match of the Asia Cup 2022. Pakistan have the upper hand after registering a huge 10-wicket win over their subcontinental-rivals in their last encounter in the 2021 T20 World Cup at the same venue. India, on the other hand, have had a good form , coming into the Asia Cup on the back of 2 recent series wins.
Pakistan have only played one T20I in 2022 against Australia in April. Australia won that match by three wickets, chasing a target of 163.
India
They are coming into the tournament after beating England 2-1 away recently and they won the West Indies tour 4-1 as well despite some of the marquee players not being there. India have had good recent form in the T20 format and will look to continue the winning momentum in the Asia Cup as well.
Pakistan
The Men in Green have played only 1 T20I match in 2022, in which Australia emerged victorious by beating them by 3 wickets. Pakistan though will have good memories of the UAE after what happened in the 2021 20-20 World Cup. They will look to start strongly against India.
Players to watch out for
India
Virat Kohli-
The talisman has had a poor run of form coming into the Asia Cup, He will look to score big and get back among the runs so that India can have a good campaign. He will also look to take the initiative and put his doubters to rest. He has a great record against Pakistan in T20Is. He has scored 311 runs at an average of 77.75 and a strike rate of 118.25 . He has 3 fifties in his name.
2. Rohit Sharma-
All eyes will be on him as he will be leading the Men in Blue in his first multilateral tournament after assuming full time captaincy. The belligerent top-order batsman will look to score big against the Pakistanis. His record against Pakistan in T20Is is ordinary. In 7 innings , he has scored 70 runs at an average of 14.00 and at a strike rate of 127.27 with no half centuries yet. He will want to better that.
3. Arshdeep Singh-
The Left-armer from Punjab has made everyone take notice of his yorkers and the slower ball variations that he uses in the death overs. The way he reads a batter and sets him up makes Arshdeep stand apart.
Pakistan
Babar Azam –
The main man for Pakistan has been in good form in the shorter formats and will look to continue the same. The Pakistan run machine will look to mount the runs in the Asia Cup and score big runs. He has faced India only once and Babar has scored 68*(52) balls in their last meeting.
2. Mohammad Rizwan-
The top-order wicketkeeper batter has been a revelation for Pakistan since the departure of Sarfaraz Ahmed. He too has scored heaps of runs for Pakistan in white cricket. Rizwan scored 79*(55) in their only match against India. He will look to give good starts in the Asia Cup for his side.
3. Hasan Ali-
He has got into the squad because of an injury to Mohammad Wasim. He will look to use his all-round skills to the best of his ability in the Asia Cup and be Pakistan’s game changer.
Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain.
Pitch Report
The conditions in Dubai are hot and dry, and the dew factor at night might not come in play. This could also mean that toss will not be a factor. The wicket will provide an even contest between bat and ball. However, the teams might prefer to bowl first and chase the target, later on.
