The wait for perhaps the most enterprising game of the Asia Cup Twenty20 will end today when India take on arch-rival Pakistan at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. The match begins at 7:30pm and Star Sports 1, Maasranga TV and GTV will telecast it live.
It is not only India and Pakistan who are excited about the tie. Millions of fans in Bangladesh are expected to be nailed to their sofa seats at home while demand for tickets has already reached a crescendo.
Considering the popularity and history of the contest, the game promises to be a thrilling encounter. This will be the first meeting between the two sub-continent rivals in any format since last year’s World Cup.
Pakistan batting-allrounder Shoaib Malik believes his side will start today’s game as the favourites but if recent form is anything to go by, then it is India who are flying at the moment.
India made a fiery start to the tournament, defeating hosts Bangladesh by a comprehensive margin. Before arriving in Bangladesh, India had defeated Sri Lanka 2-1 in a three-match T20I series. Prior to that series, the Indians whitewashed Australia down under in three T20Is.
Then there is the batting factor. There is hardly any team in the world who can boast such power and strength as India, especially in the shortest format. While batsmen like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan can be more than handful for any opponent on a particular day, captain MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh add some much-needed experience to the line-up.
The combination was further improved through the inclusion of youngster Hardik Pandya. Pandya experienced a brilliant outing against the Tigers, hitting some powerful shots in the latter overs to take India to a challenging total.
The pace unit, comprising veteran left-arm paceman Ashish Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah have proven that they can work in tandem while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin can be deadly on his day.
Pakistan though will be no pushovers as they have played a lot of T20s recently. They were the last team to arrive in the capital city for the Asia Cup, given that they were busy competing in the inaugural Pakistan Super League T20. Many of their cricketers are on song at the moment and the Pakistan team management will be desperate to see the trend continue.
And if India possess one of the most formidable batting line-ups in the world then Pakistan’s bowling department can easily be labelled world-class. The bowling order includes experienced campaigner Mohammad Sami, tall left-arm pacer Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz and Anwar Ali.
With so many bowlers in their rank, Pakistan will look to the in-form Mohammad Hafeez to lead the batting charge while Malik, Umar Akmal and Sarfraz Ahmed also have the ability to take the game away from the opposition.