Asia Cup 2022 India vs Pakistan match on Aug 28: India eye revenge for 2021 loss

India will take on Pakistan in a T20I match of Asia Cup on August 28 (Sunday) at Dubai International Stadium. Even though they face each other only in ICC tournaments now, they are still the arch-rivals. The last time the two sides faces each other in World T20I in October 2021, India had to face a humiliating loss. But this time, the team has a new captain and has been on on winning run in white-ball cricket.

The previous bouts: The history between India vs Pakistan in Asia Cup since 1984 tells us that the men in blue have dominated their neighbours. The two have played against each other 14 times in Asia Cup. While India have won 8 matches, Pakistan were victorious in 5 games.

In head-to-head clashes in T20I cricket, the two have faced each other nine times. India won six out of these nine matches while Pakistan has won only twice. One game ended with no result.

Stats tell that Indian team looks in a better position to outplay the Pakistan team in the Asia Cup match. But, the Babar Azam-led team is also coming fresh after defeating Netherlands 3-0 in a ODI series and can never be taken lightly.

Indian batsmen who can dominate Pakistan bowling: Even though Pakistan also has a good opening pair, when it comes to middle-order, India batting looks much stronger. India has the likes of skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav who, on their day, can destroy any bowling attack.

Here are two players who can turnout to be match-winners for India:

Suryakumar Yadav: Suryakumar Yadav has been in a great form in the last few matches which he has played for India. Coming to bat at one down, Yadav has played some brilliant knocks like his maiden T20I century against England and some good cameos against West Indies.

The team management has also shown faith in the player and promoted him in the batting order. Yadav plays seamers very well and this will give him an edge against Pakistan who have seamers like Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Wasim. Though these players are in good form, they lack experience in a tight contest against a team like India. 

Hardik Pandya: Along with Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya is capable of hitting big shots when the ball gets old. In the death overs especially, the allrounder can be a big trouble for Pakistan which will be without its star bowler Shaheen Afridi, who is out of the tournament due to an injury. Pandya's strike rate in T20I cricket is 144.04 and his average is 23. In bowling, he has an average of 27.80 and has taken 50 wickets in 67 matches he has played. 

The batting dilemma of Pakistan: One of the weak points of the Pakistan team is its middle-order batting. It was evident in its recent outing against a team like Netherlands also. Though Pakistan won the series, the problem of its middle-order being slow and inept in producing big knocks is a glaring problem for the team. The onus to score runs falls eventually on Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Rizwan. Vice-captain Shadab Khan in the recent past has played smoe solid knocks. Apart from them, the batting line-up of Pakistan looks weak.

Shaheen Afridi's absence: Shaheen Afridi's absence will be a big blow for Pakistan, and they will now have to rely on inexperienced bowlers like Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Waseem. Haris Rauf will have the responsibility of taking the wickets of top order batsmen like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli. So, the bowling department of Pakistan also looks weak and inexperienced.

Will Jasprit Bumrah's absence hurt India? Jaspirt Bumrah's back injury forced him out of the Asia Cup. He is India's key bowler and has been a match-winning performer. He has the potential to change the outcome of a game by throwing those deadly yorkers and his absence in really going to hurt India.

Who has the edge? On paper, the Indian team in batting department looks stronger than Pakistan. In bowling too, India has skilled bowlers who can take on any batting order. On the other hand, toss would also be crucial as both the teams would be willing to chase a target after winning the toss.