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Asia Cup 2018: Arch rivals back in arc light

There are reasons Pakistan players will believe that they can repeat the CT result, especially with India's most dominant batsman Virat Kohli missing from the list.

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Cricket fans will be in for a delightful treat when Rohit Sharma-led India take on Sarfraz Ahmed’s Pakistan in the Asia Cup clash in Dubai on Wednesday
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Sparks fly, emotions run high whenever India-Pakistan meet on a cricket field in any part of the world. And if it's Dubai, where fans would try and outnumber each other, one can only imagine the plight of players out there in the middle.

With the two teams meeting each other in Asia Cup match on Wednesday, after more than a year — the last time was when India lost on June 18, 2017 at the Champions Trophy final in England, the situation could be compared with that of a pressure cooker on a high intensity stove.

There are reasons Pakistan players will believe that they can repeat the CT result, especially with India's most dominant batsman Virat Kohli missing from the list.

Kohli may not be missed as a skipper, given his recent overseas record in South Africa and England, but the 29-year-old's scintillating run with the bat has made him indispensable in world cricket.

For all the hype associated with a match between these two neighbours, the last four out of five ODI encounters have proved to be one-sided affairs. India have won three of these, all of them comprehensively. The only game which ran a bit close was 2014 Asia Cup game in Dhaka where Shahid Afridi hit off-spinner R. Ashwin for a six in the last over to record a solitary wicket win.

Even though India are 'hosts' of this Asia Cup in Dubai, due to disagreements between the two neighbours, the atmosphere would be anything but 'homely'.

In the last decade or so, Indian cricket has grown leaps and bounds thanks to Indian Premier League (IPL), while the Pakistan cricket has touched the lowest point since the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in March 2009.

It's only been last one year or so that Pakistan cricket has been showing signs of recovery under new coach Mickey Arthur.

Batting woes

In Kohli's absence, India would certainly look towards skipper Rohit Sharma, vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan and former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to make their contributions count.

And there is even greater need for the seniors to chip in because of the vulnerability of the middle-order. Having left with about only 21 ODIs before the 2019 World Cup in England, the team management and selectors need to solve the middle-order problem.

In more than a year, Team India has tried almost 10 players — from Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav to Ambati Rayudu — but has failed to find a right combination.

On the other hand, Pakistan middle-order looks stable with Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik and skipper Sarfraz Ahmed providing depth and strength to the squad. The 36-year-old Malik, in particular, has fantastic record against India.

Pakistan pacers would be an ideal choice to test our middle-order contenders. Led by Mohammad Amir, who has always troubled Indians with his awkward angle.

Pakistan would be hoping that young guns like Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali and Faheem Ashraf would be able to provide the much-needed spark and fizz to the attack.

In batting arena, Fakhar Zaman at the top of batting order is in fine form and struck his country's first double century in an ODI against Zimbabwe recently. His partner Imam-ul-Haq has supported him well to come up with century partnerships on four occasions.

Whatever happens on Wednesday, the format of the tournament is such that the two teams could meet again on September 23 in 'Super Four' round, and if they play to their billing, there would be another final meeting on September 28.

INDIA-PAKISTAN CLASHES IN LAST 5 ASIA CUP

2008: India beat Pakistan by 6 wickets in group stage 
Pakistan beat India in the Super Four stage
2010: India beat Pakistan by 3 wickets
2012: India beat Pakistan by 6 wickets
2014: Pakistan beat India by 1 wicket
2016: India beat Pakistan by 5 wickets

DID YOU KNOW?

Virat Kohli is the highest run-getter at 459 runs including two centuries and an average of 45.90 in the 12 India vs Pakistan clashes in the last decade. For Pakistan, Mohammed Hafeez is the highest run-getter with 473 runs

N ZONE

6 No of times India has won the Asia Cup title. It is the most successful side participating in the Asia Cup in it. Pakistan has won it twice

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