Asia Cup: An unstoppable India set to take on Pakistan in Super Four clash amid off-the-field drama

DUBAI: Team India will take on their arch-rivals Pakistan in a high-voltage Super Four clash against Pakistan at Dubai on Sunday, with a lot more than a spot in the final at stake.

This is the second clash between these two nations following the Pahalgam terror attacks back in April and the consequent launching of Operation Sindoor by the Indian Armed Forces against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. India won the first clash one-sided, carrying out a comfortable chase of 128 runs with seven wickets in hand and spinner Kuldeep Yadav played a crucial hand with a ‘Player of the Match’ winning bowling spell of 3/18, which restricted Pakistan to 127/9.

However, just like it is with a lot of India-Pakistan clashes, the real ‘Masala’ was produced off the field, with skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube walking off the field after the win without shaking hands with the Pakistani side, with the TV visuals even showing the Men in Blue shutting their door on Pakistan. The Indian captain dedicated the win to the Indian Armed Forces and expressed solidarity with the Pahalgam terror attack victims.

Following Surya’s post-match interview, Pakistan skipper Salman Agha did not attend the post-match presentation, and coach Mike Hesson was sent to face the press. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) later filed a complaint against Pycroft, alleging him of ‘violation of ICC Code of Conduct’ and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) laws related to the spirit of cricket.

Ahead of their next clash against the UAE, Pakistan cancelled their pre-match presser. On the day of the match, the team locked themselves inside the hotel, with PCB threatening to pull out of the tournament if Pycroft was not removed from the tournament. The match was delayed for an hour and, after a meeting between Pycroft and the Pakistan team’s leadership group, the match went ahead, and Pakistan won to march to the Super Four stage.

Notably, ahead of this India clash too, Pakistan cancelled its pre-match presser.

Notably, it emerged later, as per ESPNCricinfo, that Pycroft was made aware of the ‘no handshake’ between both captains just ‘four minutes ahead of the toss’ by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) venue manager, and he was barely a messenger and not the one behind the instruction. Also, soon after Pycroft’s meeting with the Pakistan party, PCB released a statement claiming an apology came from the match referee. ICC is believed to be unhappy with it, and the idea of a response “clarifying” the situation was discussed, though it is still uncertain if it would be made. PCB also released a short video of the meeting despite concerns raised during it that a video would be recorded. The video was allowed to be posted without an audio.

With so much having taken place off the field, the controversy no doubt would be on the back of the minds of both skippers to some extent. While India will continue playing its ruthless brand of cricket like they have for past few months, Pakistan, a highly unpredictable T20I side, could use this entire episode as a fuel to perhaps spring up a few surprises and play much better.

Ahead of the match, Indian skipper Suryakumar was confident in the team’s preparations and performance in the marquee clash, saying during the pre-match presser, “I feel our preparations have been excellent, leading into the tournament. We had three good games also, so we are actually focusing on what we can do best and as I said on the toss as well that we want to follow all the good habits, which we have been doing in the last 2-3 games. We will take one game at a time, but yeah, as you said, it does not give us an edge, that we have played them once and we had a good game, so of course it will be a good game, we will have to start well from scratch, and whoever plays well will win the game.”

He also spoke on the importance of closing out on outside noise ahead of such big matches, which sometimes brings with it controversies and how it is not possible to keep the outside noise away from the team’s eyes and ears completely.

“Close your room, switch off your phone and sleep, I think that is the best, see it is easy to say, but sometimes it is difficult because you meet a lot of friends, you go out for dinner and you have lot of players also around who like to see all these things, so it is challenging, but then it is on you, what you want to listen to, what you want to have in your mind and go on and have a practice session or go on and have a play a game, but I have been very clear with all the boys, I think it is very important, if we want to do well this tournament and going forward, we will have to shut a lot of noise from outside and take what is good for you, I am not saying shut the noise completely, but take what is good for you, I mean someone can give you a good advice as well, which can help you in the game, which can help you on the ground, so I think that is very important for me and rest I feel everyone is good in a good space,” said the captain.

From Pakistan, their spin attack of Mohammed Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, Saim Ayub and Sufiyan Muqeem could be expected to give some tough fight. Ayub, the opening batter who has had an unfortunate run of three successive ducks so far, will be aiming to break the streak and get some runs worthy of praise under his belt against a top-class Indian line-up.

For India, the spin trio of Kuldeep, Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel will have to replicate the magic that they did in Dubai last time, conceding just 60 runs and picking six wickets in their collective 12 overs. Jasprit Bumrah, the beloved ‘Jassi Bhai’ of India, will be looming as a threat no matter what phase of the game.

Indian opener Abhishek Sharma, their top run-getter for his side with 99 runs at a strike rate of 225.00 and best score of 38, would do his team a world of good if he lasts beyond the powerplay. Known for his powerplay batting, he could be extremely destructive against spinners, and a 70-80 or a century would be a nice addition to his growing T20I cricket catalogue. After breaking his run drought against Pakistan in previous match with an unbeaten 47*, skipper Suryakumar would also like to add another fine score against the arch-rivals. Vice-captain Shubman Gill, who has had a poor run with scores of 20*, 10 and 5, will be aiming for that one big score to justify his return to T20Is and his elevation to Surya’s deputy.

Squads:

India Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson(w), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Jitesh Sharma, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy

Pakistan Squad: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Haris(w), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha(c), Khushdil Shah, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed, Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Salman Mirza, Sufiyan Muqeem. (ANI)