Pakistan National Cricket Team
Pakistan National Cricket Team. Image: PCB
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Asia Cup 2022: PAK Playing 11 vs IND (Predicted), Match 02. The world’s biggest game is on the cards on 28th August with India taking on Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai. The second game of the Asia Cup 2022 will be a revenge time for India to heal the wounds from a 10-wicket defeat at the ICC World T20I in 2021.

The race is wide open with both leading pacers of India and Pakistan – Jasprit Bumrah & Shaheen Shah Afridi out of the Asia Cup 2022 due to injuries.  India are having a dream run in T20Is since their exit from the 2021 T20I World Cup. They have 19 wins in 23 T20Is played since ICC World T20 2021. They have managed this by giving opportunities to 27 players – most by any team this year.

Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Shah Afridi. Photo- Getty
Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Shah Afridi. Photo- Getty

The 7-time Asia Cup champions India won all 5 games in the last edition of the Asia Cup. They beat Bangladesh by 3 wickets in the finals to retain the title in the UAE. Pakistan has played just 1 T20I this year. But they won 3 out of the last four matches. They beat West Indies 3-0 at home.

India vs Pakistan
India vs Pakistan. Image Credits: Twitter

Out of the last 5 matches in the Asia Cup, India has overpowered Pakistan 4 times. In the only T20I between these 5, India bowled out Pakistan on 83 and won the game by 5 wickets.  Pakistan has 2 Asia Cup titles and their last trophy came back in 2012. In the last 5 T20Is between these two, India has 4 wins. But Pakistan made sure to beat them in the T20I World Cup by 10 wickets in the previous game.

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Asia Cup 2022
Asia Cup 2022 Photo Credit: (Twitter)

Pakistan will be ready to take the challenge with Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan opening the innings. The duo chased 152 runs against India in the T20 World Cup last year at the same venue. Rizwan has been phenomenal since the last year. The opener has scored 1326 runs in 26 innings at an average of 73.66 including a century and 12 half-centuries. On the other hand, Babar Azam who is the world’s number one T20 Batsman has 939 runs in the same innings with 1 century and 9 half-centuries.

Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam
Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam (Image: Twitter)

Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, and Mohammad Nawaz will have a great burden on their shoulder in case the openers fail to score. But the trio is averaging below 23 since last year. Mohammad Nawaz’s strike rate has been above 150 in the last 11 innings but he is yet to score big. All-rounder Shadab Khan will be the last key of the middle-order. Shadab Khan has 20 wickets since the last year at an average of 19.60.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has named Hasan Ali in Pakistan’s squad for the 2022 T20 Asia Cup as a replacement for Mohammad Wasim who complained of back pain during a training session at the ICC Academy, Dubai, and was sent for an MRI scan. As per Mohammad Wasim’s MRI report, the pacer has sustained a side strain and now has been ruled out of the tournament.

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Asia Cup 2022: PAK Playing 11 vs IND (Predicted), Match 02

Babar Azam

Babar Azam
Babar Azam (Image Credits: Twitter)

Babar Azam is the skipper of Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2022. He should be the opener for the team during the tournament. The right-handed batsman is currently the top-ranked ICC batsman in T20Is. This year, Babar Azam has only played 1 T20I game in which he scored 66 runs. He has shown fabulous form in the ODIs and Tests.

Babar Azam has scored 2686 runs in 74 T20Is averaging 45.53. He has 1 ton and 26 fifties in the shortest format with a career-best of 122 against Proteas. His average of 59.79 in ODIs is proof of his ability to excel in the limited overs formats.

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