https://arab.news/z6cmy
- Pakistan will take the field on Sunday without lethal pacer Shaheen Afridi
- The last time India and Pakistan met, the latter beat the former by 10 wickets
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan captain Babar Azam said on Saturday that his side wasn’t a “one-man squad”, as it prepares to lock horns with arch-rivals India in their opening fixture of the Asia Cup 2022.
Group A heavyweights Pakistan and India will collide on August 28 at the Dubai International Stadium. However, both sides have been rocked with injury problems, with Pakistan set to take the field on Sunday without Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Wasim Junior.
India, on the other hand, will be without their fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel.
Azam said Pakistan had a “squad full of quality cricketers and match-winners” who will take additional responsibility in Afridi’s absence. “In the 2021 T20 World Cup, we have already demonstrated we are not a one-man squad. In five league matches, we had five different player of the matches,” he said.
Afridi was the architect of Pakistan’s last year win over India in the T20 World Cup, taking the three important wickets of captain Rohit Sharma, K.L. Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav. All three are part of India’s team in the T20 Asia Cup.
Azam said Pakistan’s victory over India in last year’s T20 Word Cup would serve only as a good reference point.
“While we will continue to reflect on it [2021 victory over India] positively, Sunday and any other matches down the line will be new fixtures that will be played in new conditions,” he added.
“I know there is tremendous excitement in both countries but for us, it is just another game,” Pakistan’s skipper said. “Our preparations have been excellent and we will take the field oozing with confidence.”
Squads:
Pakistan (from) — Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir.
India (from): Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, R Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, Y Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.