Pakistan will take on India in a crucial match of the Asia Cup cricket tournament at Mirpur in Dhaka on Sunday.
The match will start at 1pm (Pakistan Standard Time) and 2pm (local time).
Both India and Pakistan have won one match each and both were beaten by Sri Lanka.
Driven into a corner after their defeat to Sri Lanka, India will look to regroup quickly and plug their loopholes as they go into the make or break match against arch-rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup on Sunday.
With back-to-back victories over Pakistan and India, Sri Lanka have virtually assured themselves of a berth in the final of the Asia Cup, and now it’s a two-way battle between the traditional rivals to be the other finalists in the five-nation tournament.
Both teams go into the match on an even keel, a win and one loss each, but the defending champions Pakistan have a slight edge as they have a bonus point in their kitty from their win against associate nation Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s chief cricket consultant Zaheer Abbas feels it would be an intense contest between India’s famed batting and his team’s “stronger” bowling when the two sides clash in their much-anticipated Asia Cup match here Sunday. “Both teams have their weaknesses.
It will depend who play on that given day and learn from their mistakes. It’s going to be a close match, whoever plays well tomorrow will win. Both teams are very good. I’m expecting a good game tomorrow,” the former Pakistan captain told reporters on the eve of the high-voltage match here, reported The Nation.
India can take heart from the fact that Rahane and Dhawan are back among runs to provide a great support to Kohli.
They would now desperately want opener Rohit Sharma to forget the horrors of Dale Steyn in the Johannesburg ODI against South Africa, and start afresh.
With skipper Kohli giving Sharma the full backing, it's time for the opener to regain confidence and make a mark against Pakistan.
“We need to have faith in him because he’s done really well and stepped up when we didn’t have any opening options. He's filled in that spot beautifully and I think he deserves all the faith,” Kohli had said.
Former Pakistan cricketers including two former captains Rashid Latif and Muhammad Yousuf believed that the role of the batsmen is vital in Pakistan’s do-or-die match against arch rival India in their bid to reach the final, reported The News, a Pakistani English daily.
Though Pakistan got a bonus point in their second game. But they badly needed a win to ensure their passage in the final by overpowering India.
Role of the middle order batting will be very important and we must a couple good partnerships to boost a good total, former glove man said.
Rashid Latif said changing and chopping in this will be not in the interest of the team and favoured the boys given full opportunities.
Muhammad Yousuf said that batsmen should not play One Day Internationals like T20s because too much hitting and aggression can bring down team’s downfall.