Wahab Riaz comes up with valuable advice for Team India before Asia Cup game against Pakistan
India and Pakistan players are getting ready for the first biggest clash of 2023. The two teams meet in Pallekele on Saturday in the 2023 Asia Cup. India and Pakistan will be playing their 14th game in the Asia Cup. India has won 7 games while Pakistan has won 5 games with one game being washed away. The Indian team has won the Asia Cup the most times and won the last 50-over edition of the Asia Cup in 2018. That year the Indian team beat Pakistan twice to make it to the final and win the tournament against Bangladesh.
The game on Saturday will be one to watch as the Indian batting will be up against the Pakistani pace attack. Ahead of the key game, former Pakistani pacer, Wahab Riaz has come up with some advice for the Indian team. Pakistan began the tournament well with a 238 win over Nepal. Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed led the charge with the bat with centuries. Pakistan pacers did the early damage with the ball. Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf picked 2 wickets while Naseem Shah picked 1 wicket.
Wahab Riaz advises India on how to tackle Pakistani pacers
Wahab Riaz while speaking to the Pakistani channel, Zalmi TV said “Shaheen has always been an impact bowler and not just India, he has troubled most of his opponents with the new ball. But T20 Cricket and one-day cricket are different.” Shaheen Shah Afridi famously rocked the Indian batting unit during the 2021 T20 World Cup. Afridi’s early burst meant that Pakistan had beaten India for the 1st ever time in any World Cup.
Wahab Riaz further said “In T20s, you have to attack and try and score runs. But in one-day cricket, you can survive the new-ball phase and then accelerate. So I feel it’s more about how India strategically negotiates the new ball threat and they will get an opportunity to score runs”
He finally added that pacers from both sides will be looked at keenly during the contest. The former left-arm pacer said “Pakistan has to think about what if Shaheen’s new ball threat is negotiated and that’s where I feel Haris Rauf will be important. He has pace and gets bounce. it’s all about how India handles pressure against the Pakistan bowling attack as they have all the shots. Pakistan bowling versus Indian batting will be an interesting contest”
Rounding off his assessment, Wahab Riaz had some words of praise for Indian bowling. One name in particular is, Jasprit Bumrah as Riaz explained “I think even the Indian bowling can’t be ignored now as Bumrah’s comeback will make them more impactful, something they were missing for a while”
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