ISLAMABAD: After grabbing the number one slot in the ICC Men’s ODI ranking, Pakistan is all set to face its arch-rival India in the Asia Cup at Pallekele, Sri Lanka tomorrow, unless the 80 percent predicted rain interrupts in the middle.
Despite having a stronger winning track record in the ICC events, India must be worried this time about the all-round performance of the Pakistani side, having a lethal bowling attack, a strong batting combination, and superb fielding. It was the reason cricket gurus, including former Indian captain and commentator Ravi Shastri, have submitted to comment that the current Pakistani side has managed to minimize the ICC event’s losing streak against India.
Biggest Arch Rivals in Cricket
If someone claims, that England and Australia as the major arch-rivals in the game of cricket, who apart from other cricket, have faced each other in Ashes for over 100 years, the answer is no. It’s India and Pakistan that attract both audiences and sponsors around the World. In his media talk, Pakistan’s skipper Babar Azam expressed the same views, adding that people across the world wanted to watch and enjoy Pak-India matches. The number one ODI batsman in the world also showed his excitement with full preparation ahead of the big contest. Meanwhile, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma also admitted that Pakistan was playing good cricket in recent times, and it would be a challenging encounter for them.
Pakistan and India: Bowling vs Batting
As a precedent, most Pak-India contests are considered to be matches between the lethal bowling line of Pakistan and the aggressive batting line of India. Pakistan has a furious bowling line in the shape of Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, and in-form Shadab Khan, while Indian batting is supported by world-class Virat Kohli and consistent Rohit Sharma. However, this time India has some new faces both in the batting and bowling side. On the same side, Pakistani top order is in good touch and it is expected to be a nail-biting contest.
Avoiding Pressure
The Pak-India match always carries a fully loaded pressure. It is the reason both teams always comfort themselves with good past memories to lower their pressures. However, sometimes bad memories haunted them ahead of the game. The Indian team must remember the famous last ball six by Javed Miandad in 1986, two consecutive sixes by Boom Boom Afridi Against Ashwin in the Asia Cup in 2014, and of course that first over no ball by Jasprit Bumrah that later led Fakhar Zaman to a century. Meanwhile, Pakistan also had some obsession about how to beat India in the ICC event as Indian experts were always mocking Pakistan to face them and beat them in the ICC event, however, this sentimental approach was finally washed out when Pakistan turned the table on India in the ICC T20 World Cup by 10 wickets in 2021. That was indeed a humiliating defeat for India in the ICC event.
Despite all this, the super arch rival for the Saturday contest is the possible rain, with 80 percent prediction from the country’s met office. And only a miracle can take both sides to the ground to play a 50-over match.
