India and Pakistan will clash on August 28, in Dubai, for their group game in the Asia Cup 2022. Such is the format of the Asia Cup that the two arch-rivals could meet thrice in this tournament including the final.
This will be their first meeting since Pakistan thrashed India at the T20 World Cup last year, at the same venue, Dubai.
But, the Indian team is looking, and feeling, much different from the one that lost to Pakistan last year. Apart from the change in captain and coach, Indian batters have adopted a new aggressive brand of cricket; their all-rounders, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, are in good form, and their bowlers have dominated every T20 series since last year’s T20 WC.
Despite all this, Pakistan remains a formidable opponent who has a strong arsenal and a number of match-winners.
Here are three Pakistani players who could hurt India in their Asia Cup 2022 match:
Shaheen Afridi
Shaheen Afridi will be licking his lips as the game against India comes closer. For the left-arm speedster stirred up a storm in his previous encounter against India – at the T20 World Cup in Dubai – when he dismissed Indian openers, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, in his first two overs, and then, toward the end of the innings, dismissed the then Indian captain Virat Kohli to cap off a terrific, memorable performance.
The vulnerabilities of Indian batters against left-arm pacers, especially when the ball is moving at the start of the innings, is well-known; it was further exposed recently by the likes of David Willey, Reece Topley and Obed McCoy. Afridi will once again want to recreate some of the magic from that T20 WC game this time in the Asia Cup.
Mohammad Rizwan
Since the start of 2021, the time around when he was promoted to open the batting in T20 cricket, nobody has scored more T20I runs than Mohammad Rizwan’s tally of 1349 runs in 30 T20Is. Nobody with over 500 runs in this period averages more – or even close – to Rizwan’s staggering average of 71.
Being promoted to open the batting has come as a turning point in Rizwan’s career. While India’s main focus will be on the likes of Babar Azam and down the order Asif Ali, Rizwan could hurt India as much. Rizwan scored 79* against India in the T20 WC game last year in Pakistan’s 10-wicket victory.
Babar Azam
The Pakistani skipper Babar Azam has been in supreme form in recent years and has traversed it across the three formats. Since the start of 2021, Babar is the leading international run-scorer, amassing over 3000 runs at an average of 51; in T20Is in this period, he is behind only Rizwan and Nicholas Pooran, with 1005 runs at an average of 38, having raised 8 fifties and one century.
Babar Azam, who scored 68* vs India last year, will lead the way for Pakistan in their quest for a third Asia Cup title, their first since 2012.
