Trial-mode India, who benched Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy against Oman and sought to give all batters a go, will segue into full-strength India, hoping for their crack bowling attack to again subdue and subjugate a misfiring Pakistani batting unit
India players celebrate the wicket of Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan in Dubai last week. Pic/AFP
In the fortnight since they landed in Dubai, India haven’t allowed the grass to grow under their feet. To compensate for the lack of match-time over the last three months for a majority of the 15-man squad for the T20 Asia Cup, they have been hard at work at the ICC Academy, spending long hours working on various aspects of their games.
It was no different on Saturday. A little over 15 hours after returning from Abu Dhabi, where they had to dig deep to quell a feisty Oman challenge by 21 runs, they assembled at the Academy for an optional training stint ahead of their first Super Four outing on Sunday, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium against Pakistan.
Pakistan captain Salman Agha. Pic/AP; PTI
Indians high on confidence
Exactly a week after brushing aside Pakistan’s feeble challenge at the same venue, India will take form, confidence and belief as the tournament hurtles towards a climax. Sunday’s will be the second of four fixtures for Suryakumar Yadav’s side in eight nights and while many might espouse the virtues of a measured approach in soaring heat, the Indian think-tank clearly believes otherwise.
Oman’s enterprise and free-spirited doggedness might have taken India by surprise somewhat, but there won’t be even the slightest hint of taking the foot off the pedal against Pakistan. Suryakumar attempted to alleviate residual tension from the events of the last several days by portraying nonchalance, but India’s captain is every bit as determined as ever to drive his team forward and maintain their recent hegemony over their traditional rivals. India are sitting on a six-match winning streak against Pakistan and a seventh victory on the trot will go a long way towards realising their first goal of reaching the September 28 final.
Rested Bumrah set to return
Trial-mode India, who benched Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy against Oman and sought to give all batters a go, will segue into full-strength India, hoping for their crack bowling attack to again subdue and subjugate a misfiring Pakistani batting unit. Opener Saim Ayub is searching for his first runs of the tournament while the middle-order hasn’t yet come to the party, Agha’s battles (23 runs in three knocks) mirroring those of his colleagues’. Pakistan have had a first-hand taste of the mayhem Kuldeep Yadav and Chakravarthy can wreak, though their primary objective will be to keep Bumrah quiet in the opening exchanges.
Having shored up their own bowling with spin in the first couple of games, Pakistan changed tack and brought back Haris Rauf for their final league outing against UAE. Rauf delivered like he invariably does and should again line up alongside Shaheen Shah Afridi, the dashing left-armer. Afridi has been in terrific six-hitting form in this and boasts a batting strike-rate of 206.45, the third highest among all batters with at least 50 runs to their name, but it is as a left-arm swing bowler that Pakistan need him more.
Pakistan added a new dynamic to the mix by again cancelling, at the last hour, their scheduled pre-match Saturday press conference, setting the stage for what promises to be another eventful Sunday showdown.
Four
No. of T20Is India and Pakistan have played against each other in Dubai — both have won two each
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