Defending champions India will begin their title defence in Asia Cup 2022 with the much-anticipated India vs Pakistan clash. The fifteenth edition of the continental championship is scheduled to begin on Saturday (August 27) with the clash between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. India will be in action on Sunday when they lock horns against their arch-rivals in Dubai.
In the last edition of the Asia Cup, India had played against Pakistan twice and had won on both the occasions. The Rohit Sharma-led side would be keen to get the better of the Men in Green on Sunday too and start their campaign on a winning note. This is the first meeting between the two teams this year. Their last meeting came in 2021 T20 World Cup where Pakistan had inflicted a heavy 10-wicket defeat on the Men in Blue.
BCCI hints at India’s playing XI for India vs Pakistan clash:
Ahead of the epic India vs Pakistan clash, the BCCI might have revealed India’s team combination for the game. On Friday, Team India’s official Instagram page posted a picture of 11 of the squad members from the training session. Surprisingly, the likes of Deepak Hooda, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were missing from the photos.
If the photos are indeed a hint to India’s playing eleven, then the Men in Blue will play the game with three fast-bowlers and just one spinner. Hardik Pandya will be the only designated allrounder in the team while KL Rahul will be opening with Rohit Sharma. As far as underperforming Virat Kohli is concerned, he will be at number three followed by Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik at number 4, 5 and 6 respectively.
Here is the likely playing eleven for India for the India vs Pakistan clash according to BCCI’s latest post:
Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh