After drawing first blood in the group stage clash, Indian team will eye another win under their belt to ensure a place in the finals, whereas, Pakistan will eye revenge at its adopted home venue to reach the summit clash.
Match importance
The winner of the match will inch closer to the title and most probably reach the finals of Asia Cup 2018
Match Details
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, UAE
Date: 23 September 2018, Sunday
Timings: 17:00 IST, 15:30 (UAE)
Weather
The heat will allready soar up with high profile India-Pakistan clash and Dubai heat is expected to make the proceedings more heated up. The temperature will range from 36’c to 42’c with high humidity level. Rain is not expected to spoil the party.
Pitch report
Traditionally the wicket is a batsman paradise which will offer help to the spinners. Dew may be a factor so the team winning the toss should bowl first and chase the target in the second innings.
Important Player
India: The onus will be on skipper Rohit Sharma to create the impact in the match. With Amir sitting out in the match against Afghanistan and again expected to miss the India game, it may prove to be a good news for Sharma as he has struggled to find his way against the left-hand seamers.
Ravindra Jadeja and Kedar Jadhav will be looking to spun the web around the Pakistani batsman yet again.
Pakistan: Experienced Shoaib Malik will be the go-to-man for Sarfraz Ahmed led team. Malik played a match turning innings of 51 runs against Afghanistan to give his team a famous win. Pakistan needed 10 runs off last over and Malik kept his nerves to hit a six and then a four to take his side home. He will be the biggest asset in Pakistani middle-order against a formidable looking Indian bowling line-up.
The Number game
Since 2016, Pakistan has played 10 ODIs in UAE and lost on only one occasion which is the recent encounter against India in Asia Cup.
Match prediction
The Rohit Sharma led side has find the answers to all the hard question in limited time. Their bowling line-up looks settled and with Dhoni scoring 30-odd runs in the match against Bangladesh, their middle order also looks reliable. The returning Ravindra Jadeja has just strengthen the bowling line-up.
Pakistan’s batting line-up looks inconsistent and their bowlers have failed to create much impact in the tournament.
Shadab Khan(3 wickets) who is Pakistan’s highest wicket taker in the series may again be sidelined following a slight niggle.
India clearly looks an overwhelming favourite when we compare both the teams on paper and the men in green have to score runs and dig deep in India’s middle-order to stand any chance of winning the match.
India’s Squad
Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (WK), Dinesh Karthik, Deeoak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Siddharth Kaul and K Khaleel Ahmed. Also read: Asia Cup 2018: India’s predicted playing XI
Pakistan’s Squad
Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shan Masood, Sarfraz Ahmed(C & WK), Shoaib Malik, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan, Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Asif Ali, and Mohammad Amir.
