Did BCCI Reveal Team India’s Playing XI For Pakistan Fixture In Asia Cup 2022?: The Asia Cup 2022 will commence in Dubai on Saturday with Sri Lanka taking on Afghanistan. But it is the mouth-watering clash between neighbours India and Pakistan on Saturday that has got everyone talking.
This will also be the first meeting between the arch-rivals since Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets last year at the T20 World Cup, incidentally in Dubai.
BCCI hints at India’s playing XI vs Pakistan
Two days out from the game against Pakistan, the BCCI’s Twitter handle gave a massive hint – not of a few players, but of the entire playing XI!
The board posted 10 photos of 11 different Indian cricketers from their net session on Friday and fans believe that these eleven Indian stars will take the field on Sunday against Pakistan.
Will Ravindra Jadeja be dropped?
In the photos posted by BCCI’s Twitter handle were: Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in one frame, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant; Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal; Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan.
This has left fans wondering whether superstar all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will be excluded from the eleven – which also means that Hardik Pandya will play as the fifth bowler and will be needed to bowl the quota of all four overs!
Here, check out BCCI’s posts:
#TeamIndia train, our cameras go click-click
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 26, 2022
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 26, 2022
As soon as all the images were uploaded, the fans began speculating whether this is indeed India’s playing XI. In the past India have announced their playing XIs prior to the game but only in Test matches. So it will be quite a surprise if this is the exact playing XI which Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid have finalized upon.
Here are some of the fan reactions:
We can understand complete sentences. https://t.co/iEbKs4knpg
— A-Man (@ratedAMAN) August 26, 2022
Team India Playing 11 against Pakistan
— 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐡K (@Kumar62S) August 26, 2022
did they just put out the XI https://t.co/9mezRlwNl7
— Mohit Katta (@MohitKattaC1733) August 26, 2022
Ye thread toh pura batting order me playing XI hi bata diya h
— #VaderOP (@EternalBlizard_) August 26, 2022
Playing XI announced
— Steve (@Team_RKV_) August 26, 2022
Playing 11 leaked
— नहीं टूटा है गाबा का घमंड (@SEEYOUATGABBA_) August 26, 2022
Seems to be the playing Xl#AsiaCup https://t.co/dTO27rxUnm
— Adi_Reddy
(@dr_adireddy) Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Hooda, R Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi are four players who don’t feature in these posts by the BCCI. Jadeja has been dealing with injury issues since the West Indies tour so that’s understandable.
But going in with only one spinning option – Chahal – in the UAE conditions, and two young pacers in Avesh and Arshdeep would be quite a big bet from Sharma-Dravid while also keeping out the veteran off-spinner, R Ashwin.
For the first round of the tournament, India are placed in Group A alongside Pakistan and Hong Kong; Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan comprise Group B. The top two teams from each group proceed to the Super 4 stage where they will compete against each other once.
The top two sides in the Super 4 will battle it out in the final on September 11 in Dubai.
