We look ahead to Sunday's highly anticipated clash between India and Pakistan, the winner of which should advance to the Asia Cup Final.

by Shayan Siddiqui (1st March 2013)

The highly anticipated encounter between India and Pakistan has become as crucial as it possibly could with both sides being narrowly beaten by Sri Lanka, rendering Sunday’s match an effective semi-final. Whilst the Asia Cup has rarely captured the imaginations of many, the tight matches we have witnessed so far as well as the inclusion of Afghanistan have actually given this tournament more exposure than previous editions have perhaps had. The India-Pakistan game this weekend will once again be the highlight but the Afghanistan-Bangladesh match is also likely to attract attention to see if cricket’s new boys can topple the hosts.

Moving back on to the clash of the old rivals, the result, as always it seems, is going to be determined by how Pakistan’s bowlers shape up against India’s batsmen. The toss could be crucial, and it will be interesting to see which way Misbah goes should he win it. As already seen in this Asia Cup, chasing is undoubtedly India’s strength but it is also Pakistan’s weakness, so it may be wise to bat first, look to score over 300 and hope the bowlers defend it.

Key matchups

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami vs Pakistan’s top 3

Misbah has suggested that Pakistan may tinker with their batting order, but regardless of who plays, one of the top 3 really ought to make a big score. The major difference between Sri Lanka and Pakistan the other day was that one of Sri Lanka’s top order carried on to make a century. Ahmed Shehzad has had starts including a 50 against Afghanistan, whereas Sharjeel Khan and Hafeez have struggled. It is highly unlikely Pakistan will have the same top 3 as they did earlier in the competition but they must realise that they cannot leave all the work to the middle order.

India meanwhile will be concerned with the lack of potency of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami. Sri Lanka got off to an excellent start and it was only the introduction of Ashwin that got India the breakthrough. Shami, despite taking three wickets, also struggled at the death and Pakistan need to ensure they take advantage of this area by keeping wickets in hand for the end of the innings.


Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin vs Umar Akmal and Misbah-Ul-Haq

India’s spin duo took 5-72 in their 20 overs against Sri Lanka and almost turned the game around. The left-right combination is proving to be quite a handful and how Pakistan’s two in-form batsmen rise up to the challenge could be significant in the outcome of the match. Umar Akmal has had two spectacular innings so far but Pakistan fans will hope he hasn’t run out of gas just yet. Both Akmal and Misbah have the ability to hit boundaries at the end of the innings and with Afridi struggling with the bat, it really is vital that one of these two sees off the spinners and is there at the end of the innings.


Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal vs Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan

6-85 was the return from Pakistan’s three spinner against Afghanistan and in arguably the most important contest on Sunday, they will need to find a way to keep India’s batsmen quiet. Against Afghanistan, Kohli’s hundred sealed a straightforward chase for India, but against Sri Lanka, he fell for 48 (to a mystery spinner) and India failed to reach a winning total. Shikhar Dhawan scored 94 and was also dismissed by Ajantha Mendis so Saeed Ajmal may have a crucial role to play. Regardless though, given the lack of assistance for the seamers, all three spinners will need to perform and not let India’s batsmen dominate if Pakistan are to win on Sunday.


Verdict

As mentioned earlier, it seems likely that India will look to chase and Pakistan should want to bat first. If they can set 300, then they have the bowlers to defend the score, as long as they can somehow stop Virat Kohli. As he showed against Bangladesh, he can pace a run chase absolutely perfectly and Pakistan only need to look back to the last Asia Cup to see what he is capable of doing against them.

  Discuss!