Asia Cup 2022: Pakistan won the toss, elected to field first
Pakistan have won the toss and opted to field first against arch-rival India in a high-octane match of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
In the final match of the group stage, Pakistan defeated Hong Kong by a record 155 runs to qualify for the next stage and once again prepared the cricket fans for a thrilling contest between the arch-rivals.
The first match of the Super Four stage was played yesterday between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan from Group B, in which Sri Lanka defeated Afghanistan by 4 wickets.
The big match between Pakistan and India will be played in Dubai today, which is also the second match of the Super Four stage.
The two rival teams also faced each other last Sunday where Pakistan batted first and set a small target of 147 runs, but fast bowler Naseem Shah made the match interesting in the first over.
Naseem Shah also troubled the star batsman Virat Kohli and got a catch at slip position but Fakhar Zaman failed to catch the ball, India defeated Pakistan on the fourth ball of the last over in the group match. They were defeated by 5 wickets by scoring 148 runs.
It is hoped that the cricket fans will once again get to see an interesting match between the arch-rival teams today.
Mohammad Rizwan, who scored an unbeaten 78 runs against Hong Kong, while talking to the journalists, said that “the match against India is always full of pressure, the whole world waits for this match”.
He further said that this pressure will be equal on India and us but the result will be in favor of the one who remains fearless and calm.
Mohammad Rizwan added, “I say to the players, whether you play against India or against Hong Kong, the game is ultimately about bat and ball, so treat it like that. It’s definitely a big match and our confidence is high.”
“We have to play good cricket and go to the final, our fans demand that we give our best performance and this time it is seen that the national team players are giving their best performance,” he said.
Meanwhile, Shahnawaz Dhani, who showed a good performance in the last match against India, will not be available for the match against India in the Super Four stage today due to injury.
According to the announcement made by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Shahnawaz Dhani is afraid of suffering from a side strain, due to which he will not participate in the match against India.
As a replacement for Shahnawaz Dhani, Mohammad Hasnain will get a chance to play in today’s match against India.
Earlier, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Wasim Jr also suffered injuries in the UAE before the start of the tournament and were out of the event.
On the other hand, the Indian cricket team will not have the services of Ravindra Jadeja in today’s match, who played an important role in India’s victory against Pakistan in the previous match.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury, while he will also miss the T20 World Cup.
Pakistan will play its second match in the Super Four stage against Afghanistan which will be held in Sharjah on September 7.
The third match of the Super Four stage will be played between Sri Lanka and India on September 6. On September 8, India and Afghanistan will compete in Dubai.
The final match of the Super Four stage between Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be played in Dubai on September 9, followed by the final between the top 2 teams on September 11.
