When archrivals India and Pakistan square off as the headlining acts of the Asia Cup, India’s Virat Kohli will have the opportunity to get back into form before the World Cup, and Pakistan’s Babar Azam will be looking to maintain his team’s psychological advantage.
Virat Kohli of India has the opportunity to recover form before the World Cup, while Babar Azam of Pakistan will aim to preserve Pakistan’s psychological edge as the two teams compete as the headline acts of the Asia Cup, which starts this weekend. The Asia Cup begins this weekend. During the twenty twenty competition that will take place in the United Arab Emirates for two weeks, cricket powerhouses India and Pakistan can face each other three times. The six-nation competition had to be relocated from Sri Lanka due to political upheaval, and its importance has been amplified this year as a result of the fact that the Twenty20 World Cup will be held in Australia in the next months of October and November.
The first match will be played on Saturday between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, but everyone’s attention will be focused on India and Pakistan’s match in Dubai on Sunday.
India will be hoping to avenge their humiliating loss to Pakistan at the same location in the previous year’s T20 World Cup. India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, is doing his best to keep his players level-headed as the anticipation and excitement among fans reaches a fever pitch.
In an interview with Star Sports, he stated, “Everyone watches the game, and it’s a high-pressure game without a question. However, within the group, we want to establish a normal attitude.”
“We don’t want to get anyone too excited about this game. It is essential to emphasise to the players who haven’t faced Pakistan before or who have only competed against them once or twice that Pakistan is merely another opponent.”
India’s former batter and current assistant coach Rahul Dravid has been replaced by VVS Laxman, who will serve in an interim capacity. India made the announcement late on Wednesday.
Shaheen wounded
This will be Kohli’s 100th Twenty20 International, and it presents the opportunity for the great batsman to break out of his protracted slump before the World Cup.
The 33-year-old batsman has not scored a century in any format since the beginning of 2019, but he should feel revitalised after taking some time off during the travels to the West Indies and Zimbabwe.
Earlier this year, Rohit took up the role of all-format captain from Kohli, who had accumulated 27 hundreds over the course of 102 Tests.
The success of Pakistan will largely be determined by the play of their captain, Azam, who is coming off of a successful series against the Netherlands in which his team won all three one-day internationals.
Azam, who is 27 years old, is now in first place in both the world T20 and ODI batting rankings. He was the unbeaten batsman for his team when they won against India the year before.
Mohammad Hasnain, a fast bowler, has been selected to play for Pakistan in place of Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was India’s T20 destroyer in the previous year but had to leave the match due to a knee injury.
India, who won the Asia Cup in 2018 when it was contested over 50 overs, and Pakistan will be joined in Group A by Hong Kong, who won the final qualifying match against the UAE on Wednesday. India is the defending champion, while Pakistan won the Asia Cup in 2018.
The members of Group B are as follows: Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
The two teams who finish in first and second place in each group will advance to the Super 4 stage, which may feature another matchup between India and Pakistan.
Should both competitors reach the championship game on September 11, it is possible that they will compete against one another for a third time.
It’s possible that Sri Lanka, led by Dasun Shanaka, may ruin the party for India and Pakistan.
They have been successful in recent home series despite the backdrop of a severe economic crisis, which indicates that they have the ability to make it to the final.
In recent months, the island nation that is obsessed with cricket has been plagued by food and fuel shortages as well as continuous blackouts. A victory would provide some much-needed cheer to the population.
