Asia Cup 2018: India’s predicted XI against Pakistan

India’s predicted XI against Pakistan: Sportsrush presents before you India’s predicted XI for the much awaited clash against Pakistan.

It might sound unfair to the other teams and to the intention of conducting the whole tournament, but all India-Pakistan matches during the tournament are expected to become its highlight.

The rivalry between the two neighboring nations is such that it attracts incessant buzz across the globe. Even the players have agreed to experiencing an enhanced adrenaline rush altogether during participating in the India-Pakistan matches.

With the Indian playing XI already been predicted against Hong Kong, it is now time to put down the Indian playing XI for the match against Pakistan which will be played on the day after tomorrow at Dubai.

1. Top-Order – Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will face both the heat of Dubai and that generated from Pakistan’s prolonged pace attack. In the 13 ODIs that Sharma has played against Pakistan, he has scored 417 runs at an average of 34.75 and a strike rate of 77.22, numbers that he would be wanting to improve.

On the other hand, Dhawan fares better against Pakistan, scoring 220 runs in five matches at an average of 44 and a strike rate of 101.38. Both the batsmen are yet to score a century against Pakistan, something which the team would be expecting from at least one of their openers.

Lokesh Rahul, who is likely to bat at No. 3, would be looking to make amends in his ODI career just as he has done with his Test career. Scores of 8, 5, 11, 4, 17, 7, 9* and 0 in his last eight innings for India are way too low for someone of his potential.

With other specialist batsmen in the squad, he can’t afford to continue this streak in the matches to come. He will be included into the playing XI in place of either Ambati Rayudu or Dinesh Karthik.

2. Middle-order – With Dhawan opening the batting, India won’t be having the cushion to try out reserve batsmen in the middle-order against Pakistan. One out of Karthik or Rayudu Pandey would be included in the playing XI for the crucial No. 4 spot. It will depend on if someone performs extra-ordinarily in the ongoing match against Hong Kong.

In MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya, India have a trio of batsmen who can press the accelerator in the slog overs. Dhoni is also in the likeliness of achieving some records against Pakistan on the day after tomorrow.

3. Bowlers – With Jasprit Bumrah likely to be rested against Hong Kong tomorrow, he will have time to be prepared for the match against Pakistan. In Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, India have a quartet who can both restrict and attack the opposition batsmen. The inclusion of Pandya and Bumrah is most likely to happen in place of rookie bowlers like Shardul Thakur and Khaleel Ahmed.

Having made his ODI debut against Pakistan in 2012, Bhuvneshwar has till date played seven ODIs against them, picking up 11 wickets at an average of 23.72, an economy rate of 4.27 and a strike rate of 33.2.

The others in Bumrah, Chahal and Yadav haven’t picked a single ODI wicket against Pakistan. Chahal and Yadav will be playing their first ODI against them. So, whether that results in a positive aspect for India or not, only time will tell.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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