Round two of the India–Pakistan rivalry is upon us as the two old foes get ready to battle it out in the Super Four clash of the Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma and his men prevailed in comprehensive fashion over the men in green in the group-stage meeting between the two sides. Can Pakistan can even the scores at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium?
Both sides are high on confidence after winning their Super Four campaign openers and a place in the final will be up for grabs for the victor of Sunday’s clash.
With stakes high, we look at the three key individual battles that could potentially decide the clash.
HASAN ALI V ROHIT SHARMA
Standing in for Virat Kohli in the tournament, Rohit Sharma has let his bat do all the talking with two fifties in the three matches including one against Pakistan in the group stage. The India man has been one of the best ODI openers going around for some time now and showed his class once again with an unbeaten 83 against Bangladesh in the Super Four clash.
Against Pakistan, he safely negotiated his nemesis Mohammad Amir who went wicketless. On Sunday, his biggest threat could come from Hasan Ali. The 24-year-old had become the fastest Pakistan bowler to pick up 50 ODI wickets last year and has been a consistent performer in the side’s limited-overs success in recent times.
He too, like Amir, went wicketless in the previous clash against India and will be keen to make amends.
Key battle: Hasan Ali and Rohit Sharma.
FAKHAR ZAMAN V BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR
Fakhar Zaman came into the tournament as perhaps the most in-form ODI batsman given his recent heroics in Pakistan’s tour of Zimbabwe. The Pakistan opener became the first batsman from his country to notch up an ODI double ton while also becoming the fastest to register 1,000 runs in the format.
The explosive left-hander is capable of giving Pakistan electric starts, just like he did in the Champions Trophy final against the same opponents. However, the opener has failed in the Asia Cup after an entertaining 24 against Hong Kong in Pakistan’s first match. Since then, he has been dismissed for a duck against both India and Afghanistan.
Against India, it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who got the better of Fakhar. The India seamer has only just recovered from a lower-back injury but has taken no time at all to get back to his very best. Against Pakistan, he was terrific with the new-ball and got rid of both openers inside five overs with a spell of high-quality line and length bowling.
Bhuvneshwar came out on top in Round one.
SHOAIB MALIK V KULDEEP YADAV
While Fakhar has been key to Pakistan’s impressive results in limited-overs cricket of late, Shoaib Malik’s contributions have been equally significant.
The Pakistan veteran has been tried in various positions in the batting line-up throughout his career but has now finally settled in. He is a man who has the ability to bat Pakistan out of trouble in any situation and has developed into a terrific finisher for the team. His finishing ability was on show in Pakistan’s win over Afghanistan on Friday where he led the team across the line in the final over.
Since 2017, Malik has been averaging nearly 45 with the bat in the ODI format while he has historically loved batting against the Indian against whom he averages nearly 48 in 40 matches.
He will be key for Pakistan against the wrist-spin threat posed by Kuldeep Yadav who recently reached 50 ODI wickets. The India youngster went wicketless against Bangladesh but was superb in the win over Pakistan where his wicket of Babar Azam proved to be crucial. He will be eager to make his mark against India’s arch-rivals but will have his task cut out against Malik who is an excellent player of spin.
How Malik handles Kuldeep will be pivotal.
