Suryakumar Yadav’s men look to continue their dominant run in T20Is against arch-rivals, while a revamped side under Salman Agha hope to script turnaround in today’s Asia Cup Group ‘A’ clash
India players celebrate the dismissal of UAE’s Junaid Siddique during their Asia Cup opener in Dubai on Wednesday
It’s been 15 months since India last ran into Pakistan in a T20 International, at the World Cup on an apology of a surface at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. The last time the two sides locked horns was during the 50-over Champions Trophy this February, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Back-to-back wins for India
India trooped out winners on both occasions, by six runs in New York in a low-scoring thriller where they defended 119 with zeal and aplomb, and by six wickets here on the back of a sterling unbeaten century by Virat Kohli. That’s pretty much been the story of recent on-field showdowns between the traditional rivals. Pakistan have occasionally landed the knockout punch, such as in the T20 World Cup in 2021 and in the Super Fours of the T20 Asia Cup in 2022, both in Dubai, but India have consistently and comprehensively been the stronger and the more powerful side.
Pakistan skipper Salman Agha. PICS/AFP, GETTY IMAGES
At the DICS on Sunday, World Cup champions India, also the No. 1 T20I outfit, will seek to extend their decisive 10-3 advantage in the 20-over game while Pakistan, sporting a new look under Salman Agha, will attempt to buck an alarming trend and pull one back. Both protagonists have warmed up for the big-ticket clash with commanding victories — India by nine wickets with 93 balls to spare against UAE, Pakistan by 93 runs against Oman on Friday on the same used surface.
A fresh track will greet the teams as they seek to steal the early march ahead of a near-confirmed Super Four faceoff next Sunday, on which a lot more will hinge from a tournament perspective. Suryakumar Yadav’s troops and Agha’s lads have practically guaranteed their places in the next stage and therefore the immediate stakes might not appear massive, but when has that ever been the case when India and Pakistan have been drawn together?
Sluggish ticket sales
The first match since the dastardly Pahalgam attacks in April and the retaliatory Operation Sindoor launched by the Indian armed forces the following month has attracted more than normal attention, though the build-up to the game has been less frenzied with the organisers making a fresh batch of tickets available as recently as Friday evening. Multiple factors have been held responsible for the somewhat tepid response to a contest certain to draw huge global interest, among them the unforgiving heat that not even a 6.30 local time start is an insurance against.
Where India have evolved into a fearless, uninhibited batting strike force with their captain leading the way, Pakistan are just starting to smell the coffee. The advent of Mike Hesson as the head coach has triggered a change in batting philosophy with positivity as the mantra, though Pakistan will concede that in the new dynamic, they have yet to encounter an attack as versatile and skilled as the one at their opponents’ disposal. There is more to India’s bowling than just Jasprit Bumrah, but as ever, the genius with the hyperextended right elbow will hold the greatest threat for batters who haven’t previously experienced his magic first hand.
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