India vs Pakistan: Virat Kohli Becomes 1st Indian, Overall 2nd Cricketer To Play 100 Matches In All 3 Formats Of The Game

Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli is a part of the Indian playing XI that will be taking on Pakistan in their first Asia Cup 2022 match in Dubai. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has already won the toss and opted to bowl first.

This is the first time India and Pakistan are playing each other since the T20 World Cup last year. Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets in that game. India thus has a chance to avenge their defeat in tonight’s game in Dubai.

Meanwhile, former Indian skipper Virat Kohli achieves a special landmark to play 100 matches across three formats. He becomes the first Indian and second cricketer overall to achieve this landmark. Former Kiwi batter Ross Taylor was the first cricketer to do so.

This Period Taught Me A Lot: Virat Kohli On His Lean Patch

India and Pakistan both kickstart their Asia Cup campaign tonight. There is a lot of focus on Virat Kohli who has played down the pressure of the game and spoken about his own form and feeling about the game. He also met with Pakistan skipper Babar Azam ahead of the game.

“This period taught me a lot, you know many things I was not allowing to come to the surface. When it surfaced, I embraced it. I am not shy to accept that I was feeling mentally down, it is a normal thing to feel but we don’t speak because we are hesitant, we don’t want to be looked at as mentally weak or weak people. Trust me, faking to be strong is far worse than admitting to be weak” said Kohli on his current phase where he hasn’t scored a century for over two years.

As far as the playing XIs of both teams are concerned, India have opted to go win with Dinesh Karthik as the specialist keeper ahead of Rishabh Pant. For Pakistan, Naseem Shah is making his T20I debut.

India vs Pakistan Playing XIs

India

Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Dinesh Karthik(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh

Pakistan

Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani

Also Read: IND vs PAK Head to Head Records, India’s Head-to-Head Record Against Pakistan– Asia Cup 2022, Match 2