The Asia Cup is coming around and this means that cricket fans would be treated to the spectacle of India vs Pakistan match. The two arch-rivals will clash in the first of possibly three matches in a tournament that both sides would be counting on as they prepare for the 2023 ODI World Cup. With the T20 World Cup happening in 2021 and 2022 and the Asia Cup taking place last year as well, this fixture has occurred quite a few times in the last three years despite the two teams not playing any bilateral cricket series with each other for nearly a decade now.
A number of Pakistan players, including Babar Azam, have little experience of facing India in an ODI match(AFP)
Notably though, this will be the first ODI match between the two teams since June 16, 2019, when India beat Pakistan by 89 runs in the 2019 World Cup. A lot has changed for Pakistan since then, starting with their captaincy changing hands from Sarfaraz Ahmed at the time to Babar Azam. The latter is credited with making Pakistan a far more steady force to reckon with, particularly in ICC tournaments, and has led them to the top of the ODI rankings. Let’s take a look at five players to look out for before the big match.
1. Babar Azam (103 matches, 5202 runs; Average: 58.44, 18 centuries, 28 half centuries)
First up comes the captain and talisman. Babar has established himself as among the greatest of his generation. And yet, he might come into this match feeling that he has a point to prove. Babar has played India on five times, the last of which was the match in 2019. In those games, he has scored just 158 runs at an average of 31.60 with no half centuries, let alone centuries. In the five games he has played with India, he has managed scores of 8, 46, 47 and 9. It has to be noted that all of the matches that Babar played against India came at a time when he was yet to become the senior pro recognised as being among the most consistent batters in the world. Babar has been part of some of the most extraordinary fixtures in the recent history of this rivalry. He was part of the side that stunned India in the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy and played a leading role in their demolition of India in the 2021 T20 World Cup. As captain he was also heavily involved in the series of memorable matches that the two sides played in 2022.
2. Shaheen Afridi (39 matches, 76 wickets; Average: 23.34)
Shaheen Afridi was almost like a bolt from the blue for most Indian fans, if not the batters themselves, during the 2021 T20 World Cup. If there were those India thinking that the team at the time were lucky that they don’t have to face Mohammad Amir like what was the case in the 2017 final, Afridi came in to remind them that Pakistan’s production line of fast bowlers who can make you shiver never ends. Afridi came in and sent back Rohit Sharma in just the fourth ball of the match and then KL Rahul off the very first ball of his next over. He then got Virat Kohli out just as the then-India captain was looking to shift gears, having survived until the last two overs. Interestingly, though, most of India’s memories of Afridi would be down to that one match as he has hardly played in this fixture in his five-year-old international career. Indeed, Afridi has played just one ODI against India and that came in the 2018 Asia Cup. No Pakistan player had got a wicket in that game with Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan’s centuries leading India to a dominant victory. He had sat out the Asia Cup last time due to injury, which had also cast a shadow on his performance in the 2022 T20 World Cup in which he faced India for just the third time in his career. Afridi might be keen on providing a reminder of what he is all about now that he is back to full fitness.
3. Naseem Shah (10 matches, 25 wickets; Average: 16.12)
It would come as no surprise that the young paceman is yet to face India in ODI cricket. Naseem however played India three times last year with rather ordinary results for a player of his calibre. He got the big wickets of KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav in his first match against India in the Asia Cup last year. Naseem then got one wicket each in the second Asia Cup fixture and the T20 World Cup match, both of which were among the most thrilling encounters ever played in the T20 format between the two sides. In the clash at the packed out MCG, Naseem had an impressive outing. He conceded just 23 runs in his four overs and took the wicket of Rahul with his fifth ball of the game. Naseem has played only 10 ODIs in his nascent limited overs career and has two five-wicket hauls to his name, one of which came against New Zealand in Rawalpindi.
4. Haris Rauf (24 matches, 44 wickets; Average: 26.56)
With an ability to bowl at a blinding pace and skills to keep the runs in check, Haris Rauf has become integral to Pakistan’s cause in limited overs cricket. His Test debut went awry late last year as he picked an injury having bowled 13 overs but he has returned to full fitness as against New Zealand and most recently by taking five wickets as Pakistan skittled Afghanistan out for 59 last week. Rauf is yet to play an ODI against India. However, he did play all four T20I matches that the two sides played against each other over the course of 2021 and 2022. He has taken four wickets and averaged just 33.50, thus proving to be a dangerous customer to score off. How difficult it is to score against him was on full display in the humdinger that was played between the two sides at the MCG in the 2022 T20 World Cup. Rauf had conceded just 24 runs in 3.4 overs before Virat Kohli hit him for two stunning sixes and the turn the match on its head.
5. Fakhar Zaman (73 matches, 3207 runs; Average: 47.16, 10 centuries, 15 half centuries)
Zaman scored 114 off 106 balls to help Pakistan to a total of 338/4 batting first. India then crumbled in the face of the big total and Pakistan, who had received a 124-runs hiding at the hands of their neighbours in the same tournament earlier, won the match by seven wickets. He has played just four matches against India and in those, Fakhar has scored 207 runs at an average of 51.75. His recent form in the format has been good. Fakhar scored three consecutive centuries against New Zealand when Pakistan hosted them in April this year. After that, he had managed scores of 19, 14, 33, 2, 30 and 27. It is pretty safe to say that for India, the wicket of Fakhar will be a prized one and how soon they can get him out might go a long way in determining the result of the match.