India vs Pak: Key player battles to look forward to in the Asia Cup
It is that time of the year when arch-rivals India and Pakistan will be up against each other in the 14th edition of the Asia Cup. The last time these two teams met was at the finals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 in England where Pakistan outplayed India in all three aspects.
Owing to their recent success and familiar conditions, Pakistan will be favourites when they are up against India who will be led by Rohit Sharma in the absence of Virat Kohli.
In the UAE, Pakistan has been undefeated in the last 16 encounters (ODIs and T20Is) as it has been their adopted home since 2009. India, on the other hand, will be returning to the UAE after a gap of more than 10 years.
While both the Asian giants would love to get the better of the other team, what makes these matches intriguing are the player battles. Remember Amir Sohail and Venkatesh Prasad’s encounter or Gautam Gambhir and Shahid Afridi’s verbal spat?
The list of Indian and Pakistani players going up against each other to prove their mettle is endless. Here are 5 player battles to look forward to when India-Pakistan take the field on Wednesday.
Mohammad Amir vs Rohit Sharma
With Virat Kohli being rested for the tournament, the onus of getting India to a good start would rely heavily on Rohit Sharma.
When Mohammad Amir returned to the international scene after being banned for match-fixing, Sharma commented that “he is just a normal bowler.”
Amir proved his worth in the finals where he not only dismissed Sharma for a duck but also bagged Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli’s wickets. In the six overs he bowled, his figures were 16/3. He destroyed the backbone of Indian batting and the team couldn’t recover from that setback.
However, Amir has been struggling with form lately. In 8 previous encounters, he has just picked up 3 wickets. Sharma, on the other hand, averages 59.68 with 1313 runs in the last 25 games. While Sharma’s prowess with the bat is not hidden to anyone, it is the left-armer’s ability to swing the ball back in that bothers the Mumbaikar the most.
Will the Hit-Man be able to negate Amir’s swing or fall prey, would make for an interesting clash.