Asia Cup 2022: 3 reasons why Pakistan can defeat India in the upcoming titanic battle
Rohit Sharma-led Indian side is going to clash with their arch-rivals Pakistan on 28th August, Sunday in the Asia Cup 2022. Without any doubt, the clash between India and Pakistan is one of the best clashes in the history of cricket.
The Men in Green previously locked horns against India in T20 World Cup 2021 where they defeated India by ten wickets by chasing down the target quite comfortably.
However, it will be a big challenge for Pakistan to trash the seven-time winners of the Asia Cup, as they have been the favourites to clinch the title for the third consecutive time as well. Hence, let's have a look at the 3 major reasons that Pakistan can defeat India in their first match in the Asia Cup 2022.
3. Babar Azam in prime form
The skipper of the Pakistan cricket team, Babar Azam is in stunning form in the limited-overs format. In his last outing against India, he made the bowlers struggle right from the start of the game and didn't let Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy make their impacts with the ball.
Two years back, Babar Azam took the leadership and guided his side very well across all formats of the game. Moreover, he recently broke Virat Kohli's previous record of scoring 1000 runs as captain in the One-day format.
2. India's struggle against Pakistan's left-arm pacers
Without any doubt, India has one of the best top-order in the cricket world. They have the likes of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli who can demolish any bowler even if he is in an astonishing rhythm with the ball. However, all the three top-order batters have struggled a lot against the left-arm pacers in recent times.
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Having a look at the recently concluded England series, both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been dismissed by Reece Topley and David Willey, as both the bowlers were left-handers. In the previous battle between these two sides, Shaheen Afridi got the wickets of both KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup 2021.
1. No Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel for Asia Cup 2022
Team India suffered a heart attack when they meant to know that Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of Asia Cup 2022 owing to a back injury. Following him, the rising star, Harshal Patel has also been omitted after suffering a rib injury. Both the bowlers have been one of the best in the slog overs as they contain runs and also provide crucial wickets for the side.
Without these two pacers, India will be relying on the veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar who has done well in both the limited-overs games against England and West Indies. On the other side, another rising star, Arshdeep Singh will also feel immense pressure when he faces Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2022.