Asia Cup 2018: Expect no fireworks from Pakistan against India
India take on Pakistan later today in the Asia Cup Super Four stage at the Dubai International Stadium. This will be the second time that the two subcontinental heavyweights will line up against each other. India ran out as winners in the first encounter when they pocketed the game with eight wickets in hand and more than a hundred balls remaining.
Very rarely do you see such an imbalanced result in an India-Pakistan tie but perhaps it is time to acknowledge the fact that this Pakistan side is nowhere near the great teams which competed against India in the past. There are no world-class batsmen in the side and no experienced players to take the reins. Since Misbah ul Haq and Younis Khan retired, Pakistan has been coasting towards mediocrity.
INDIA
India are a very balanced side and even without regular captain and perhaps the best batsman in the world Virat Kohli, they look dangerous. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, the openers, have been on fire and wreaked havoc in the first two games of the tournament. Dhawan blasted a century against qualifiers Hong Kong while Sharma struck a quick-fire half-century against Pakistan in the group stage game.
The middle order comprises of Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik, both of whom have been in good form lately. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who got out for little against Hong Kong but scored a steady 33 against Bangladesh, will be licking his lips and getting ready to face the old enemy.
India's bowling has been a big positive too. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been fantastic with the new ball. Ravindra Jadeja, who was included in the side in place of the injured Axar Patel for the game against Bangladesh, impressed mightily. Even Kedar Jadhav, with his gentle but convincing off-breaks, looked dangerous against Pakistan earlier.
India is an excellent fielding side too and Manish Pandey showed exactly that against Bangladesh. It is a culture which is growing in Indian cricket these days and they can boast of having some of the best fielders around.
PAKISTAN
Pakistan look scared, shaky and fearful. Their batting line up is in the doldrums and they have no one experienced enough to lead the ranks. Shoaib Malik, the old racehorse and Babar Azam combined to have a fine partnership against India but the rest of the batsmen flattered to deceive. Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail and Sarfaraz Khan have to step up if Pakistan want to challenge India.
They were run close by Afghanistan in the Super Four stage but Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam rescued them. It would have been mightily embarrassing if they had lost to their north-western neighbours.
Pakistan's bowlers are young and inexperienced and not many had played against India before Wednesday. Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Nawaz need to be mentored and guided by the relatively experienced Mohammad Amir and Hasan Ali. They have no world-class spinners either.
Pakistan's fielding, however, has changed drastically and would be on top show against India on Sunday.
VERDICT
This India-Pakistan match looks imbalanced and leaning heavily towards India, who look the stronger team both on paper and form. Expecting no fireworks from Pakistan, this should be a walk in the park for India.