Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed is banking on his team’s experience of playing extensively in United Arabia Emirates when the Men in Green take on India in the upcoming Asia Cup.
India and Sri Lanka are the most successful teams of the Asia Cup. Both the teams have won the ODI-format five times each. On the other hand, Pakistan have won the title twice. India have won the only T20I-format competition in 2016.
Overall, India is the best and the most successful team in the tournament having won it 6 times (5 times in ODI format and once in the T20 format).
Moreover, India’s current side is also more experienced than Pakistan. The Virat Kohli-led side is one of the strongest units in the 50-over format at the moment. India are currently ranked second in the world while Pakistan are fifth.
And while Sarfraz admitted that India are more experience, he is counting on his team’s experience in UAE.
“Our team has relatively more experience of playing under UAE conditions and therefore we will try to take advantage of this experience in our Asia Cup match against India. On the other hand, Virat Kohli-XI is a stronger outfit as far as overall experience is concerned,” Sarfraz told reporters.
Pakistan and India will lock horns in their Asia Cup group ‘A’ match on September 19 in Dubai.
This will be the first time the two arch-rivals take on each other after last year’s Champions Trophy in June. Pakistan had thrashed India to lift the title.
Meanwhile, Sarfraz further said the team is currently focused on the preparatory camp for the event. The camp will take place in Lahore from September 3.
“Currently, our primary focus is on the players’ physical fitness and in this regard a training camp [for the Asia Cup] is also being held from Sept 3,” he added.
Pakistan will be brimming with confidence after a good show in recent series. They won the one-off Test in Ireland. After that they drew the Test series 1-1 in England. It was followed by a highly successful tour of Zimbabwe. The Men in Green won the T20I tri-series featuring the hosts and Australia. Sarfraz Ahmed & Co. had thrashed Australia by six wickets in the final to lift the trophy.