Billions of adoring cricket admirers will be glued today right across the cricket world to the coverage of the epic India -Pakistan derby to be played at Kandy, Sri Lanka.
These two fancied teams are top favorites for winning the Asia Cup 2023. The two evenly matched fancied teams having some top players of world cricket these days for political reasons do not play bilateral series. Neither their players appear in IPL or PSL. They only appear in global contests. The rivalry matches the ashes. Pakistan now is the number one ranked team in ODI and India is not far behind. They are locked in group A of the contest along with Nepal playing for the first time in the contest.
There is a great possibility that India and Pakistan may meet thrice against each other in this tournament this time. Incidentally in 14 episodes of Asia Cup the two teams never met in the final. India won it 7 times and Pakistan twice. Pakistan is the host. But the tournament is being played in hybrid model as India did not agree to travel to Pakistan in the excuse of security. 9 out of the 13 matches including the final will be played in Sri Lanka.
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Virat Kohli ,Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul ,Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya ( Vice Captain) , Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna , Sanju Samson ( travelling reserve)
Pakistan: Babar Azam (Captain), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Naseem Shah, Shaeen Shah Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir (Travelling Reserve)
The teams have galaxies of superstars. Prolific batsmen and top-quality bowlers and leading all-rounders. In recent times Pakistan have blown away most of their opponents with their all-round bowling attack, flamboyant batting, and excellent fielding. India after their billion-dollar worth IPL played against West Indies and Ireland before selecting their squad which abounds in champion batsmen and quality bowlers. When the two teams meet it is usually the team appearing in tune on the day get the better of the other.
In Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah Pakistan possess the fearsome pace attack. On the other hand, in Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Surya Kumar Yadav India has the right combination of top-quality batsmen. However, Babar Azam, Imam-ul- Haq and Fakhar Zaman are among the top five batsmen of ODI now. It will be primarily a contest between Rohit, Kohli vs Shaheen, Haris, and Naseem. However, world cricket is eagerly awaiting to witness how Bumrah, Shami and co perform against prolific Babar Azam, Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman. Pakistan has four quality all rounders in Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, and Faheem Ashraf. India also possesses Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel. Pakistan in the recent past has sharpened their fielding. However, both the team appear to have all fronts covered. Till the match is played it is not possible forecasting anything about the contest.
It appeared from the only match played at Kandy so far between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh that the wicket is a little tricky. Batting first may not be choice of the team winning the toss. Hope the weather does not interfere and billions across the glove are entertained with top flight contest of the cherry and the willow.
BDST: 1007 HRS, SEP 02, 2023
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