India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2022: Men in Blue face stiffer challenge from upbeat arch-rivals – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Following Rohit Sharma and Co’s hard-fought five-wicket victory last week, arch-rivals India and Pakistan are set to face off for a second time in the ongoing Asia Cup in what is expected to be another blockbuster Sunday clash in Dubai.

India however, can expect a challenge from Pakistan lot stiffer than what they faced in the opening round on 28 September, especially if one took their contrasting victories over Hong Kong into account.

India looked quite scratchy against the minnows, especially in the bowling department even if the batters produced a more dominant display than they did against their arch-rivals. Pakistan, on the other hand, outclassed Hong Kong both with bat and ball, piling on 193 after opting to bat before bundling them out for a record low score of 38 to storm into the Super Fours stage of tournament with a 155-run victory.

India sweat over Jadeja’s replacement

India were dealt a major blow on Saturday with talismanic all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja getting ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury that is sure to upset the seven-time Asian champions’ plans going forward.

The three-dimensional player that Jadeja is, especially with his improved batting skills that strengthens the middle-order and gives the team the room to play an extra bowler, it will certainly be a tough task for the Men in Blue to replace him not only in the remainder of their Asia Cup campaign, but also in the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year since his recovery from the knee injury will likely be a long-term affair.

While Axar Patel has been named as his replacement in the squad, it remains to be seen whether skipper Rohit and coach Rahul Dravid draft him into the XI right away. Like Jadeja, Axar too has worked on his batting but he isn’t as versatile as his older teammate, who can even come in at the No 4 spot.

Meanwhile, pacer Avesh Khan is also likely to miss out on the upcoming game after coach Dravid confirmed he was unwell in the build-up to the game. Avesh proved quite expensive in the game against Hong Kong, conceding 53 runs from his quota of four overs, a performance that would’ve made it difficult for the team leadership to retain him in the XI going forward.

Pakistan search for Dahani’s replacement

The Men in Green too have had their share of fitness issues both before and during the Asia Cup. They lost the services of Shaheen Afridi to knee injury in what was a body blow to their hopes. That was followed by Mohammad Wasim’s exit due to a side strain.

And now Shahnawaz Dahani, who not only is one of Pakistani’s primary seamers alongside Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah but also showcased his handy batting skills last week against India, was ruled out of the Super 4 clash against India with a “suspected side strain” on Saturday. It will thus come down to a toss up between Mohammad Hasnain and Hasan Ali, who were named as Afridi and Wasim’s replacement’s respectively, for the vacant seamer’s slot in the XI come Sunday.

As for the skipper himself, Babar has had a couple of lean outings so far in the campaign. He was bounced out by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the previous India game, departing for 10, and was dismissed for 9 off Ehsan Khan’s bowling as Pakistan suffered an early blow against Hong Kong before being lifted back to their feet by the rest of the batting unit.

And the Pakistan skipper, one of the finest contemporary batters across formats, knows he’s due a big score sooner rather than later, and will hope to make it count as Pakistan seek to make it one-all against their neighbours to the east.

Quote corner:

“Of course, they (Pakistan) are a very good bowling side, but we too did well to restrict them to 147. You are judged by the results you produce” — India coach Dravid.

“The pressure will be equally on India and us, but the result will be with whoever remains brave and keeps calm” — Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Rizwan.

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Hooda, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel

Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Haider Ali

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