Asia Cup 2018: 3 possible reasons why Pakistan can defeat India
The 14th edition of Asia Cup that begins on this Saturday will return to its traditional ODI format this year. As usual, India and Pakistan will enter the tournament as heavy favourites.
With the bilateral ties frozen between both teams, the multi-nation tournaments are the only way that the teams can face each other. The India-Pakistan rivalry is even more significant than the traditional ‘Ashes’ series between England and Australia.
In their last encounter, Pakistan blew away the men in blue comfortably to clinch the 2017 ICC Champions trophy. Now, after a year, both teams will face-off each other in the Asia Cup. There is a probability that both sides can face each other thrice in the tournament. Both teams’ fans are highly excited ahead of the competition.
Now, let us look at three possible reasons why Pakistan can beat India in their upcoming Asia Cup encounter.
#3 Current form
Pakistan thrashed hapless Zimbabwe in their last ODI assignment by a comfortable 5-0 margin. Besides, they also won the T20I tri-series involving Zimbabwe and Pakistan. Their batsmen (both the top-order and middle-order) and bowlers are in a great run of form.
However, India had different results heading into the Asia Cup. They lost their last ODI series against England 1-2. Besides, few of their players are joining the squad directly from the England tour. Misfiring middle-order, lack of a finisher and a never-ending no.4 conundrum can dent India’s chances in the Asia Cup.