Asia Cup 2022: 3 player battles to watch out for from the India vs Pakistan clash
India are all set to defend their title in the Asia Cup. The multi-nation tournament got underway yesterday (August 27), with Afghanistan thumping Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the opening game of the competition.
The Men in Blue head into the tournament as hot favorites with a record seven Asia Cup titles to their name. The Rohit Sharma-led unit will commence on Sunday (August 28), as they square off against their arch-rivals, Pakistan. The iconic fixture between India and Pakistan has produced some of the most memorable games in the tournament and is set to be a mouth-watering fixture yet again.
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The matches between India and Pakistan are not for the faint-hearted. India will want to make amends for their comprehensive defeat against their arch-rivals at the T20 World Cup 2021, where they lost by 10 wickets.
While both sides will want to commence their Asia Cup 2022 on a winning note, they have been haunted by a few injuries, especially in their bowling department. Where India will miss the services of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel, Pakistan will enter the game without their premier pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi. Nevertheless, other players will be eager to stand out in the crunch fixture.
On that note, let's take a look at the three top player battles from the highly-anticipated Asia Cup encounter between India and Pakistan.
#3 Arshdeep Singh vs Asif Ali
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An underrated player battle that can certainly be exciting to watch could be between Pakistan's hard-hitting dasher Asif Ali and India's canny pacer Arshdeep Singh.
Ali has been identified as one of his country's most exciting power-hitters in recent times and will want to power some crucial runs for Pakistan in the latter stages of the innings. A bowler who could give him a tough time is none other than Arshdeep, who has all the ability to be economical and bowl precise yorkers and slower deliveries.
While Arshdeep has done extremely well in his brief T20I career so far, he will be under the pump in his maiden Ind-Pak clash in the Asia Cup.
#2 Rohit Sharma vs Naseem Shah
Pakistan may require a replacement for Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Wasim Jr. as they miss out on the Asia Cup clash due to injury. While Hasan Ali is a member of the squad, one player to keep an eye on from their side is Naseem Shah.
In the most recent ODI series against the Netherlands, Naseem became the first Pakistani bowler to take 10 wickets in the first three ODIs of career. With his express pace and accuracy, the young speedster will hope to make his mark against a strong Indian batting unit.
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Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, will look to lead from the front and stamp his authority against all Pakistani bowlers, including the 19-year-old Naseem Shah.
Rohit is comfortable againstn pace and bounce and will want to put Naseem under pressure right from the word go.
#1 Bhuvneshwar Kumar vs Mohammed Rizwan and Babar Azam
India's primary game plan to tackle Pakistan's major threat of Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan will be to use Bhuvneshwar Kumar's new ball exploits.
Bhuvneshwar has seen a resurgence in his career in recent times and is currently the bowler with the most wickets in T20I powerplays, with 38 wickets to his name in the first six overs. The right-armer will be given the responsibility of picking him early with his ability to swing the new ball both ways.
India will hope Bhuvneshwar finds success against Babar and Rizwan, who hold significant importance for the Men in Green, especially in T20Is. The new-ball contest between Bhuvneshwar and the two Pakistani openers may well decide the outcome of the game.