Another India-Pakistan clash awaits fans, this time in Super 4 stages of the Asia Cup 2022.
India and Pakistan played a match in the group stage of the contenental tournament. The Group A match was an absorbing affair between the two teams, which went into the final over before Hardik Pandya, after his spell of 3-25, took India home in a tense chase of 148 with a six over long-on.
Amidst the scorching heat in the UAE, the atmosphere in the Dubai International Stadium will go a couple of notches high when the greatest rivalry in the world of cricket resumes yet again on Sunday.
Areas of concern
From an Indian perspective, they will be pleased to see how Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Suryakumar Yadav, along with a returning Virat Kohli, have stepped up to lead the side to victory in matches against Pakistan and Hong Kong. But there are still some areas of concern for India ahead of Sunday's big game against Pakistan.
KL Rahul has been completely out of sorts since his return after a lengthy injury layoff. He got out for a first-ball duck against Pakistan and in the match against Hong Kong, he was struggling to time the ball, resulting in a painstaking 36 off 39 balls. India would also want for captain Rohit Sharma to get a big score after indifferent outings in two matches, which deviated from the side's ultra-attacking batting approach.
Inconsistent Avesh Khan
In the bowling attack, there will be question marks over Avesh Khan's inconsistency. Against Pakistan, he had figures of 1/19 in his two overs. But against Hong Kong, he was erratic while conceding 53 runs in his four overs.
Moreover, with no Ravindra Jadeja for the remainder of the tournament, whose promotion to number four against Pakistan worked well, India have a selection query to address. They need to see whether they will still retain Rishabh Pant in the playing eleven for his left-handedness or get either of Deepak Hooda or Axar Patel, a like-for-like replacement of Jadeja, in the playing eleven.
Pakistan, on the other side, cruised into Super Four stage with a 155-run thrashing of Hong Kong. Their pacers and spinners got wickets while Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman got fifties before Khushdil Shah applied finishing touches. But their concerns still remain about the top-order.
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Hasan Ali, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir
When: September 4 (Sunday)
Where to Watch: Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 HD Hindi, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Telugu, Star Sports 1 Kannada
Live Streaming: Hotstar
Timing: 07:30 pm IST onwards
