'If you ask anyone about India's XI...': Ex-PCB chief Ramiz Raja slams Rohit, Dravid ahead of IND vs PAK match

The Asia Cup 2023 is set to showcase a thrilling cricket match on Saturday as India goes head-to-head with their arch-rivals, Pakistan. This will be their first meeting in the continental tournament this year and their first encounter since the exhilarating clash in the T20 World Cup last year. In that match, Virat Kohli's exceptional batting skills led India to a nail-biting four-wicket victory in Melbourne. What makes this Saturday's match even more significant is that it will be the first India-Pakistan game in ODIs since the 2019 World Cup.

Pakistan enters this match with the momentum on their side, following a dominant 238-run win over Nepal. On the other hand, India recently participated in a five-day preparatory camp in Alur before arriving in Sri Lanka earlier this week. In the ODI format this year, Team India has had a mix of highs and lows. They secured victories against Sri Lanka and New Zealand but suffered a series loss at home to Australia in March.

After the IPL, India made a comeback to the ODI format against West Indies. However, the performance of the batters left room for improvement, as India managed to clinch a 2-1 win. Notably, India's experiments with team combinations received significant criticism on social media from fans and experts alike. As the highly anticipated India-Pakistan encounter approaches, former Pakistan skipper Ramiz Raja has also criticized the Rohit-Dravid team management for making too many changes to the playing XI.

“India might be a little rusty, they are still searching for the right combination. The one big reason for that is even in the World Cup year, they haven't succeeded in producing a settle unit. I'm actually shocked that they are tinkering unnecessarily with a winning combination, they experiment with batting order and the focus moves to something else,” said Ramiz on his official YouTube channel.

“If you ask anyone about Pakistan's playing XI, he will tell you without much of a thought. But if you ask someone about India's XI, there are still doubts. And this might benefit Pakistan.”

In contrast, Pakistan is currently holding the prestigious no.1 spot in the ODI rankings, owing to their remarkable 3-0 clean-sweep triumph over Afghanistan prior to the Asia Cup. Led by the talented Babar Azam, the Pakistani team has shown remarkable progress in the white-ball formats. Moreover, under Azam's leadership, Pakistan has also witnessed a significant rise in their reputation during the intense IND-PAK clashes. In the four T20Is that followed their last encounter in the fifty-over format, Pakistan emerged victorious twice, including a stunning 10-wicket win in the 2021 World Cup.

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