Asia Cup 2018: Venkatesh Prasad Expecting an Exciting India-Pakistan Clash

India had won the match by eight wickets against Pakistan in the Group stage of Asia Cup 2018, but Venkatesh Prasad is expecting that Sunday’s encounter in the Super Four will be much more interesting than the previous one.

Venkatesh Prasad feels the arch-rivals will play a competitive game on September 23. However, the previous match was supposed to be a one-sided game that took place on September 19. India had rattled Pakistan by eight wickets on Wednesday in the league stage of the 2018 Asia Cup.

“The first India-Pakistan encounter in the Asia Cup may have turned out to be a lopsided affair, but the script of the second meeting — the Super 4 contest on Sunday — may well be an exciting one which could go down to the wire,” Venkatesh Prasad wrote in Sunday’s TOI.

India played a tough match against Hong Kong in their Asia Cup opener.

However, after beating their neighbours, they beat Bangladesh by seven wickets in the Super Four. Moreover, the theory of five bowlers including two pacers and three spinners had favoured India. Rohit Sharma and Co. will expect to go with the same attack. Meanwhile, Pakistan, on the other hand, will try to rectify all their errors and will put up some good show.

“Coming off a crushing Test series loss in England and the rusty show against Hong Kong in their tournament opener, India have regrouped admirably in all departments. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah in the pace department and Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Kedar Jadhav on the spin front have complemented the firing batting unit,” VenkateshPrasad added.

However, Venkatesh Prasad feels Pakistan will try to go with all-rounder Shadab Khan. The youngster hammered Indian skipper with his deliberate googly. He was rested against Pakistan but will surely give him a chance against the arch-rivals.

“Against India, they will hope for legspinner and allrounder Shadab Khan to be fit in time for the match. In the previous match between the two sides, the youngster foxed India’s in-form skipper Rohit Sharma with his googly but had to be rested for Friday’s match against Afghanistan,” Venkatesh Prasad said.

India will face off against Pakistan on September 23 (Sunday) at the Dubai International Stadium.