In the second match of the Asia Cup 2022, the arch-rivals India and Pakistan will be locking horns with each other on August 28 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Babar Azam will lead the men in green, while Rohit Sharma will captain the men in blue. The premier bowlers from both teams have already withdrawn themselves owing to injuries. Both Shaheen Afridi and Jasprit Bumrah sustained injuries to their knee and back respectively.
Pakistan has also lost their last bowler, Mohammad Wasim Jr to injury. India has won seven of the nine meetings between these two teams in T20Is so far, while Pakistan has managed to win only two games. The last time these two teams faced off, was in the T20 World Cup in 2021, which Pakistan won comprehensively. Considering these head-to-head records and recent forms, another great clash is anticipated here between these two arch-rivals.
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In the Asia Cup, India and Pakistan faced each other 15 times. Out of which, India has won 8 while Pakistan has won 5 games. Pakistan last defeated India during the 2014 edition of the tournament and has lost the last 3 matches. India has won the tournament on six occasions and is the defending champion. Pakistan has managed to clinch the Asia Cup twice since its inception in 1984.
India
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has taken 12 of his 20 T20I wickets this year, has come in the PowerPlay. India will like to use this ability against Pakistan’s top-3 and the middle-order – an average of 42.35 and 15.59 respectively since January 2021. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have scored 1000-plus T20I runs since January 2021, and breaching that opening partnership should be on top of India’s bowling agendas.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh
Pakistan
In the absence of Shaheen, Babar needs to be smart with his fields in the face of a gung-ho Indian batting side. The big dimensions of the Dubai stadium should be used well, particularly in the PowerPlay overs, where India has hit 71 sixes in 37 innings since January 2021. To put the amount of risk-taking in perspective, Pakistan has smashed just 30 of them (in 10 innings fewer) in this period. Based on where Rishabh Pant bats, timing the introduction of leggies Shadab and Usman Qadir will also be key.
Probable XI: Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah/Shahnawaz Dahani
Fantasy XI Suggestion 1:
Mohammad Rizwan, Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Babar Azam (C), Lokesh Rahul, Hardik Pandya (VC), Yuzvendra Chahal, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf
Fantasy XI Suggestion 2:
Mohammad Rizwan, Rohit Sharma (C), Suryakumar Yadav, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Hardik Pandya, Shadab Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh (VC), Haris Rauf
