Hyderabad: International cricket's most awaited clash, India versus Pakistan, is in the offing this Sunday (September 10).
After a gap of nearly a year (Oct. 23, 2022), India and Pakistan are facing each other in international cricket. This time the setting is the Asia Cup. This is the second encounter between the two sides in this tournament. However, the Sept. 2 clash resulted in a no-result as rain played spoilsport.
The forthcoming encounter will be part of the tournament's Super Four Stage. A win by either side will boost their chances in qualifying for the final of the Asia Cup. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are part of the Super Four stage. These four sides will play each other in a round-robin format and the sides with the most points will make it to the final.
Going into this clash, Pakistan is the slight favourite. The side led by Babar Azam has a more settled look to it, with few surprises expected in the playing XI. On the other hand, India will look to ease in speed merchant Jasprit Bumrah and middle order batter Shreyas Iyer into international cricket as the two are returning from a period of layoff.
Further, the Pakistan bowlers have shown fine form in this tournament.
The weather prediction for the day in Colombo, where the match will be played is not promising. Weather portals AccuWeather, BBC Weather and Weather.com, all predict rain. In case the match is washed out, India and Pakistan will share a point each.
India's Predicted XI
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Pakistan's Predicted XI
Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.
