🏏Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 - Match 2 : India vs Pakistan 🏏

A1 v A2 - 04/09/2022

Less than a week has passed since India and Pakistan faced each other in the Asia Cup group stage. Now global cricket fans have got another chance to witness the marquee clash. Pakistan’s massive 155-run victory against Hong Kong paved the way for the mega clash. India and Pakistan will lock horns for the Asia Cup Super 4 match at the Dubai International Stadium at 7:30 PM IST. After a breath taking group league encounter, fans are eagerly waiting for another thriller.

It's take-two of India's Rishabh Pant v Dinesh Karthik debate. They chose the latter in their Asia Cup opener against Pakistan and came away none the wiser. Ravindra Jadeja, the only other left-hander in the line-up, was pushed up the order and got stuck playing against spin, who he has usually struggled against. He still finished with 35, but is now ruled out with injury. Axar Patel, his replacement, should walk into the XI while Hardik Pandya, who missed the Hong Kong fixture, should return too. This then leaves Rohit & Co. with that difficult decision again. Which way do they sway?

That Axar is a bowling allrounder and comes with inferior batting returns compared to Jadeja could tilt the decision in favour of Pant. More so, with Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz - two Pakistan spinners who Pant would favourably match-up against - picking seven wickets between them in the outing against Hong Kong, albeit at a different venue. If the management deem Karthik and his finishing indispensable at the moment, a way out could be to sacrifice a bowler - perhaps Avesh Khan - to fit both Pant and Karthik in the XI.

For Pakistan, it is take-two of finding a way to get the better of a familiar foe that enjoys an overwhelming record against them in the format. Pakistan bowlers hardly put a foot wrong in last Sunday's defeat to India, and now arrive with the batters, barring Babar Azam, too getting their fill of confidence from the outing against Hong Kong. They've already produced one of the closest India-Pakistan fixtures in recent times, and now, exactly a week later, are primed to produce a game that will live up to the heightened hype again.

LOL. I just asked for it. Thanks a lot. 🤗

Originally posted by: la_Reine

Super 4 kya hota hai

India

Injury/Unavailability: Jadeja is out of the tournament with a knee injury. Axar, who was part of the reserves, has replaced him. Avesh Khan missed training on the eve of the game with fever and could miss the clash tomorrow.

Tactics & match-ups: The Sri Lanka-Bangladesh humdinger from two days ago was further proof that bouncers can be a weapon in Dubai. Hardik Pandya, who will return after getting rest in the Hong Kong fixture, will once again hold the aces through the middle overs where India stifled Pakistan last time.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant/Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan/R.Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh

Pakistan

Injury/Unavailability: Shahnawaz Dahani is out of the game with a suspected side strain.

Tactics & match-ups: Avesh Khan's audition to be India's third seamer at the T20 World Cup in October has not gone to plan in the Asia Cup. He has conceded runs at 9.79 and 11.90 in the middle and death overs respectively in T20Is since IPL 2022, and should he play tomorrow, could be a weak link worth exploiting for Pakistan.

Probable XI: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Hasan Ali

Dont forget to move today…. Dusk

Lets beat ‘em today once again… their bowling looks lethal (completely shut out HK)….

Me going back to sleep for a bit :)

Weather report:

Dubai weather is expected to be mostly sunny on Sunday. It is highly unlikely that rain will play spoilsport during the India vs Pakistan game as there are zero per cent chance of precipitation. The wind speed is expected to be around 7 km/h on matchday while the temperature could hover around 31 degrees Celsius to 41 degrees Celsius. The humidity is forecasted to be around 52 per cent.

Pitch report:

Teams batting second at this venue often get an advantage. The pitch at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium appears to be slow at times. It has also proved to be spin-friendly in recent times. The dew factor is expected to play a key role during the run chase.

What They Said:

"There's not going to be any workload management over the next three or four days, unless of course it's forced upon us like, for example Jadeja. Other than that, no we're looking at every single game to win it, try and win this tournament and do the best that we can. We'll have time after that to manage the workloads. From now on leading into the World Cup, we really want to be playing our best squad as and when possible.." -Rahul Dravid clear that India will not be resting players in the name of workload management in this tournament.

"I've talked to the bowlers before. I will be very honest here, no bowler from this group can replace Shaheen. The way he (Shaheen) has performed in the past 1-2 years, no bowler can come into the side and fill his shoes. But, we can get another Shaheen and this is an opportunity for our other fast bowlers. The way Naseem and Dahani have performed.. and Haris is already a part of the side, so we are hopeful." -Mohammad Rizwan on the absence of Shaheen Afridi

Stats and trivia

Three of Rohit's eight T20I innings against Pakistan have seen him dismissed within the first two balls.

Pakistan have lost their last four Asia Cup matches, across formats, to India. On each of those four occasions, India batted second.

Of 14 completed games between the two sides in the tournament, India have won nine.

Thanks for the tag savera

Circus shuru kiya jaye🤣

India begin Super Four with another Pant-Karthik decision to make

Pakistan arrive for the second round of their bout against India with a rush of confidence from a morale-pumping decimation of Hong Kong