Let’s take a closer look at how Pakistan’s men’s and women’s teams fared throughout this year.

Pakistan became the number-one ODI team, a rollercoaster of bilateral series

The Pakistan cricket team kicked off the year 2023 with a 2-1 ODI series loss at home against New Zealand in January.

The Kiwis visited Pakistan again in April for the T20I and ODI series, where the T20I series ended in a 2-2 tie, while one match was abandoned due to rain.

However, Pakistan avenged their earlier ODI series loss as they defeated New Zealand 4-1 this time, thanks to Fakhar Zaman, who scored two centuries during the series and was adjudged player of the series.

Pakistan cricket team reached the summit of the ICC ODI Rankings for the first time during the series after defeating New Zealand in the first four matches, however, their reign at the top was short-lived as the loss in the final ODI slipped them to third place.

Prior to the New Zealand series, Pakistan played a T20I series against Afghanistan in UAE right after the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where they rested their key players and sent a relatively young team under Shadab Khan.

The Greenshirts faced their first-ever defeat against Afghanistan in any format when they were defeated by six wickets after being restricted to a meagre 92-9.

Afghanistan improved the margin of victory as they sealed the series with a seven-wicket win in the second match, while Pakistan got a consolation win in the last match.

Both teams squared off in an ODI series in Sri Lanka ahead of Asia Cup 2023, where Pakistan registered a clean sweep in the three-match series to extend their undefeated streak against Afghanistan in ODIs.

The 3-0 victory in the ODI series over Afghanistan ascended Pakistan to the number one spot in the ICC ODI Rankings once again, which they held

Pakistan played only one Test series in the first half of the year because the year was dominated by ODI cricket by virtue of being the ODI World Cup year.

The Greenshirts toured Sri Lanka to commence their Test Championship (WTC) campaign in a two-match series.

Saud Shakeel scored his maiden double-century in the first Test to script a winning start to their campaign with a four-wicket win.

Pakistan registered a massive victory in the second Test with a margin of an innings and 222 runs, courtesy of Abdullah Shafique’s maiden double-century and Salman Ali Agha’s unbeaten century.

Lahore Qalandars became the first team to win consecutive PSL titles

From being the ultimate underdogs to becoming the only team to successfully defend their Pakistan Super League (PSL) title, Lahore Qalandars’ journey in tournament history is enthralling.

Lahore Qalandars remained at the bottom of the table during the first four editions of PSL, before playing the final of the fifth edition, where they lost to arch-rivals Karachi Kings.

The Qalandars then had another forgetful season in 2021 but they made an astounding return in the 2022 edition and won the coveted PSL trophy.

They kicked off their title defence in the eighth edition of the PSL with a thrilling one-run victory over Multan Sultans.

However, they faced a crushing 67-run defeat at the hands of arch-rivals Karachi Kings in the next match.

Qalandars then went on to win five consecutive matches, including the thumping win over Islamabad United by 110 runs, which is the joint-third largest margin of victory in terms of runs in PSL history.

However, they improved their record and defeated Islamabad United by the biggest margin of 119 runs, which is a PSL record.

Qalandars topped the points table with seven victories out of ten games and faced Multan Sultans in the first playoff game, where they were bowled out for a meagre 76 while chasing 161.

They then scripted a comeback victory over Peshawar Zalmi in the Eliminator 2 to chase 172 with seven balls to spare.

Lahore Qalandars once again squared off against Multan Sultans in the final of the PSL, where they came out triumphant thanks to Zaman Khan’s last-over heroics as he defended 13 runs to help his team create history.

Asia Cup returns to Pakistan but not the trophy as India lift eighth title

ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2023 was the first multi-nation cricket tournament hosted by Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup, however, the tournament was played in a hybrid model with Sri Lanka being the joint-hosts.

Asia Cup 2023 was played in the ODI format, unlike the T20I format last year as the tournament is being played on a rotation basis to follow the format of the upcoming ICC event.

Pakistan commenced their campaign with a massive 238-run victory over the Nepal side courtesy of Babar Azam’s 151-run knock.

They next faced arch-rivals India, where Pakistan’s pace trio of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf shared ten wickets to bowl India out for 266.

However, it literally rained on their parade as the downpour did not allow a single ball to be bowled in the second innings, thus abandoning the match.

Both teams advanced to the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup, where Pakistan thumped Bangladesh by seven wickets in their first game courtesy of their pace bowling led by Haris Rauf’s 4-19.

Pakistan’s pace attack looked invincible in the tournament and it seemed like they would finally end their Asia Cup trophy drought this year, however, they were stopped in their tracks in the next match against India.

Indian batters piled up 356-2 on the reserve day of the rain-effected match in Colombo, with all four of their batters crossing the 50-run mark.

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill scored half-centuries, whereas Virat Kohli and Kl Rahul scored centuries to post the mammoth total.

Notably, Naseem Shah also got injured during the match and was subsequently ruled out for the entirety of the Asia Cup as well as the ICC World Cup 2023.

In response, Pakistan’s batting line bundled out for a meagre 128, courtesy of Kuldeep Yadav’s five-fer.

The Greenshirts were needed to defeat Sri Lanka in their last Super Four match to qualify for the final, where they would have faced India again.

But, Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka in the last-over thriller, where Charith Asalanka held on to his nerves and guided his side to a two-wicket victory.

Sri Lanka faced India in the final with dreams of winning back-to-back Asia Cup titles, little did they know that their dreams would be shattered destructively.

India bowled out Sri Lanka for 50 runs inside 16 overs, thanks to Mohammed Siraj’s impressive bowling figures of 6-21.

They then comfortably chased the total without losing a wicket in the seventh over, winning their eighth Asia Cup title.

A disastrous ICC World Cup 2023 campaign for Pakistan

Pakistan cricket team landed in India for the first time since ICC T20 World Cup 2016, in their quest for a second ODI World Cup title.

However, the Babar Azam-led side had a shaky start as they were reduced to 38-3 against the Netherlands in their first game, which they eventually won by 68 runs.

In the next game, the Green Shirts avenged their Asia Cup loss to Sri Lanka, that too in a grand style as they recorded the highest successful run chase in World Cup history, courtesy of Mohammad Rizwan’s unbeaten century.

However, they lost to arch-rivals India in a one-sided contest by seven wickets after bundling out for 191 in front of the packed Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, extending their World Cup losing streak against India to eight matches.

After two early victories, Pakistan lost four matches on the trot, leaving their semi-final hopes hanging off a thread.

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Among those four losses, the most embarrassing was the eight-wicket loss against Afghanistan in a one-sided match, which was Pakistan’s first loss against the neighbouring country in the ODI format.

However, keeping their unpredictable tag intact, Pakistan made a comeback in the tournament as they were required to win their last three matches convincingly with several other results going their way.

Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets and New Zealand by 21 runs (DLS) courtesy of Fakhar Zaman’s whirlwind performance in both matches.

While chasing a mountainous 402 against New Zealand, Zaman kept his team in the hunt during the rain-effected match with an unbeaten 81-ball 126, pushing the team’s total ahead of the DLS par score, resulting in the victory.

Pakistan now had to defeat the struggling England in their final group match with a huge margin to qualify for the semi-final spot, however, they lost by 93 runs, thus ending a dismal World Cup campaign.

Australia went on to win the tournament, as they defeated undefeated India in the final by six wickets.

Dawn of a new day in Pakistan cricket

In the aftermath of the ICC World Cup 2023 debacle, the Pakistan cricket team saw major changes in team management as captain Babar Azam relinquished the captaincy of all three formats.

PCB handed the reigns of Test captaincy to top-order batter Shan Masood and T20I leadership was handed over to pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, meanwhile, the ODI captain will be announced later as there are no ODIs scheduled in the future.

Moreover, Mickey Arthur was replaced by former captain Mohammad Hafeez as the Team’s Director while Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz were appointed bowling coach and chief selector respectively.

The old challenge for the new management

Shan Masood’s first assignment as Test captain was the three-match Test series against Australia in their backyard, where Pakistan had not won a Test match since 1995.

Pakistan’s losing streak in Australia extended further as the Green Shirts suffered a massive 360-run loss in the first Test in Perth.

Pakistan’s batting lineup unfolded at a mere 89 in the fourth innings while chasing a mammoth total of 450.

Following the massive victory in the first Test, Australia defeated Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) by 79 runs as the visitors skittle for 237 in the fourth innings in pursuit of 317 to win the three-match Test series 2-0.

Pakistan cricket team will play the third Test in Sydney from January 3rd, 2024.

Pakistan Women’s Team’s bittersweet year

Pakistan women’s cricket team did not have a different year than the men’s cricket team, however, they achieved a few historic wins this year.

They kicked off the year with a historic tour of Australia after a nine-year hiatus, however, the tour proved to be a horror show as the visitors remained winless.

Australia defeated the women’s team of Pakistan 3-0 in the ODI series and 2-0 in the T20I series, while one match was washed out due to consistent rain in Canberra.

An early exit from the T20 World Cup

Pakistan women’s cricket team had a disappointing T20 World Cup 2023 campaign in South Africa under Bismah Maroof, where they failed to qualify for the semi-final.

They were defeated by seven wickets in their first match against arch-rival India after setting a target of 150, which was chased with an over to spare.

However, the Pakistan women’s team made a comeback in the next game against Ireland, defeating them by 70 runs.

Ireland women’s team was bundled for a paltry 95-run total while chasing 166, inspired by Muneeba Ali, who struck the first-ever century for Pakistan in Women’s T20Is.

In their next game against West Indies, they fell three short of West Indies’ 166 in a last-over thriller which almost confirmed Pakistan’s exit from the tournament.

Pakistan faced the strong England side in their final group match, where they were restricted to 99-9 while chasing a mammoth 214.

Notably, the Pakistan women’s team has never qualified for the knock-out round of the T20 World Cup ever since its inception in 2009.

Meanwhile, Australia went on to win their record sixth T20 World Cup title by defeating host South Africa by 19 runs in the final.

The wave of change in Women’s cricket

Following the T20 World’s early exit, Bismah Maroof stepped down from captaincy, after leading Pakistan in 27 out of 62 T20Is and 16 out of 34 ODI wins.

All-rounder Nida Dar was appointed the captain of the Pakistan women’s team after Bismah Maroof’s resignation.

Women made history against South Africa, New Zealand

Nida Dar’s first assignment was the white-ball series against South Africa, who were visiting Pakistan for the first time.

Pakistan women’s cricket team created history in 2023 as they whitewashed South Africa for the first time during the three-match T20I series in Karachi.

However, South Africa made a comeback in the ODI series, defeating Pakistan 2-1.

Pakistan women’s team then toured Bangladesh, where they lost both T20I and ODI series 2-1.

Pakistan then had a historical tour of New Zealand in December, where they registered their first-ever series victory over the New Zealand women’s team in the T20I format during the first match of the series.

They then defeated New Zealand by ten runs in the second T20I to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20I series, before losing the last game to make it 2-1.

With this victory, the Pakistan women’s team became the first Asian side to beat New Zealand in a T20I series.

During the ODI series, the hosts defeated Pakistan in the first two games to win the series 2-0 keeping their undefeated streak at home against the visitors.

However, Pakistan broke the streak in the last match of the series as they registered their first-ever ODI victory over New Zealand in New Zealand.

The thrilling match was decided in the Super Over after the game was tied initially.

With this tour, the Pakistan women’s cricket team ended 2023 on a high, as they look forward to new challenges in 2024.

Curtains down on some of the memorable careers

The year 2023 saw some of the stars of the Men’s Pakistan cricket team hanging up their boots and transitioning to different roles, namely, Sohail Tanvir, Ehsan Adil, Hammad Azam, Kamran Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, Imad Wasim, and Asad Shafiq.

Notably, except for Hammad Azam, all the players mentioned above have represented Pakistan in T20I or ODI World Cup.

Sohail Tanvir and Kamran Akmal were part of the T20I World Cup winning squad in 2009, while Imad Wasim played his role in Pakistan’s triumph in the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017.

Wahab Riaz was initially part of the Champions Trophy squad but was ruled out with an injury after the first match.

Moreover, two women’s players Ayesha Naseem and Nahida Khan also bid farewell to cricket this year.

Nahida Khan represented Pakistan in three 50-over World Cups (2013, 2017 and 2022) and four T20 World Cups (2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018).

Meanwhile, Ayesha Naseem shockingly retired at the age of 18 after playing only four Women’s ODIs and four Women’s T20Is to spend the rest of her life as per the teaching of her religion.

READ: A glimpse at Pakistan’s 2023 in major sports 

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The heated rivalry attracts millions of cricket fans across the globe but only a small portion get to witness the high-octane clash at the stadiums.

But things will be different and bigger this time around as the world’s biggest cricket stadium, Narendra Modi Stadium, which can accommodate as many as 132,000 spectators, will be hosting the anticipated match.

Although Pakistan and India squared off twice in Asia Cup 2023 last month, where the group stage match was abandoned due to rain, while India triumphed in the Super 4 stage match courtesy of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul’s dominant centuries.

Nevertheless, the anticipation level for this match is at the highest level, considering the fact that Pakistan and India are set to come face to face on Indian soil after seven years.

Pakistan team last toured India in 2016, for the ICC World T20 and played against India at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, where Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten half-century to lead India to a six-wicket win.

The last time these two teams faced each other in an ODI in India was ten years ago, during the 2013 tour of Pakistan for a three-match ODI series, where Pakistan came out victorious.

Overall, Pakistan and India have faced each other in 134 ODI matches. Pakistan have come out victorious on 73 occasions, whereas India triumphed in 56 matches.

However, barring the famous Champions Trophy final victory in 2017 under the inspired leadership of Sarfaraz Ahmed, Pakistan have failed in five of their last seven ODI games against India, while one game was washed out.

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Notably, Pakistan never defeated India in the seven ICC World Cup matches they have played. The most recent encounter between the arch-rivals took place during the ICC World Cup 2019 in England.

The current Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, led the Men in Blue to a resounding victory over Pakistan, with a blistering 140-run innings off 113 balls.

India’s undefeated streak has made this rivalry even more intriguing however; captains of both teams dismissed the idea of an ongoing streak as part of their strategies.

“Past is past, I try to focus on present. Records are meant to be broken,” said Babar Azam.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma also echoes the same sentiments that the streak does not matter.

“I am not a person who looks at all such stats (7-0). We only focus on how can we play good cricket,” said Sharma.

Both teams kicked off their ICC World Cup campaign with two victories in their first two games gaining momentum going into the high-octane match.

However, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is going through a rough patch and has not been able to reach the 30-run mark in his last five ODI innings since his 151 against Nepal in the Asia Cup 2023.

Moreover, Babar Azam’s weakness against wrist spinners is also alarming, with Indian left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav having an excellent record against the Pakistani captain.

Babar Azam faced Kuldeep Yadav in three ODI games and managed to score only 18 runs, while Kuldeep got him out twice. Notably, Kuldeep Yadav returned with figures of 5-25 in the last match between the two neighbours.

Records also suggest Babar Azam’s struggles against India in ODI cricket, scoring only 168 runs in seven innings with a dismal average of 28.

Watch ICC World Cup 2023 Live on ARY ZAP

On the other hand, Virat Kohli has a tremendous record against Pakistan in ODI cricket. He has accumulated 662 runs at an average of 55.16 with three centuries In 15 ODI matches, including 94-ball 122 in the Asia Cup Super Four match last month.

Nonetheless, it is expected to be a great competition between Virat Kohli and Babar Azam, two of the greatest batters of modern times. Despite his bad form, Babar Azam is currently sitting at the top of the ODI batting ranking, the position which was once held by Virat Kohli.

Pakistan’s wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan has been in good form, scoring 199 runs in two ICC World Cup 2023 games, including the match-winning century against Sri Lanka to successfully chase the highest-ever total in a World Cup game.

Rizwan was supported by Abdullah Shafique, who scored his maiden ODI hundred in his fifth ODI appearance. It would be an interesting battle between Pakistani batters and Indian bowling attack.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani bowling attack appears somewhat muted compared to the fiery display witnessed during the group-stage clash against India in the Asia Cup. Naseem Shah was ruled out of the World Cup, while Shaheen Afridi is struggling to create the magic with the new ball.

Hasan Ali, who replaced Naseem Shah in the World Cup squad, is currently their best wicket-taker in the World Cup with six wickets, equalled with India’s Jasprit Bumrah.

While Bumrah is on song, his new-ball partner Mohammed Siraj has struggled to recreate the devastation he showed during his six-wicket spell against Sri Lanka in Asia Cup final.
He managed to pick only one wicket in two World Cup games so far.

Indian spin attack is arguably the best in the world, with Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin at the helm. Considering Pakistani batters’ struggle against spin bowlers, it will be an interesting contest.

Both teams have seen some changes since their last face-off in the Asia Cup just a month ago. However, one thing is certain – the upcoming match between India and Pakistan is bound to deliver high-intensity action on the field.

Pakistan squad for ICC World Cup 2023

Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, M Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha.

India’s Squad for ICC World Cup 2023

Rohit Sharma (capt), Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.

READ: ICC World Cup 2023: PAK vs IND clash to kick off with star-studded ceremony

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The cricketing fever has reached its zenith as the two Asian giants are going face to face once again in the span of one week at the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup 2023; to ensure a complete match amid rain predictions in Colombo on September 10, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) yesterday announced a reserve day for the high-octane clash.

This decision came after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) echoed reservations about the scheduling of the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4s stage in Colombo where heavy rainfall is forecast until the end of the tournament.

Consequently, if PAK vs IND clash gets washed out on September 10 then the action will resume on September 11 from the stage it was halted.

The arch-rivals came face to face in the group stage of the Asia Cup 2023 on September 2, however, the rain played spoilsport and deprived fans of the conclusion of PAK vs IND.

Pakistani pace trio of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah made India regret their decision to bat first under heavy clouds as they booked India on 266, despite Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya’s half-centuries.

However, the persistent downpour washed out the game without a single ball being bowled in the second innings of the blockbuster clash and the two sides settled for a point each.

Pakistan’s pace trio have stood out with 23 wickets between them and played a key role in the team’s performance so far in the Asia Cup 2023.

Indian batters struggled against Pakistan’s pace battery in the previous encounter and will be eyeing to bounce back, with KL Rahul also expecting to make a comeback in tomorrow’s game, which will help bolster their batting power.

The 31-year-old Rahul has not played any competitive cricket since getting injured during the Indian Premier League in April-May. He has developed an injury niggle unrelated to the original thigh problem.

However, adjusting Rahul in the batting order will be a challenge for Indian management as his replacement Ishan Kishan has scored four half-centuries in his last four innings, including the last PAK vs IND clash.

Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah is also back after missing out on the match against Nepal due to personal reasons.

He made his comeback from injury in the T20I series against Ireland last month and made an immediate impact with a man-of-the-match performance in the first game.

However, he couldn’t bowl against Pakistan in the last match due to persistent rain in the second innings, so his match fitness for the ODI match will be tested in Sri Lankan conditions.

Pakistan on the other hand has already announced the Playing XI for the anticipated Asia Cup 2023 Super 4s clash, with Faheem Ashraf replacing Mohammad Nawaz from the lineup that faced India last week.

Faheem Ashraf made his return to the ODI side in Pakistan’s first Super 4 stage match against Bangladesh, after a long hiatus of two years. His last outing in the ODI format before then was during Pakistan’s three-match away series against England in July 2021.

Faheem Ashraf picked the prized scalp of Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan and will be Pakistan’s trump card in the middle overs, as Indian batters played fluently in that phase.
[totalpoll id=”253612″]

Meanwhile, the spearhead of Pakistan pace attack Shaheen Afridi, ahead of PAK vs IND tomorrow, has warned that his devastating spell against arch-rivals India was just the start and the best is yet to come.

“Every match against India is special and people watch this a lot,” Shaheen Afridi said on Friday. “I used to wait for this match as a fan before I played under-16 cricket.”

“I can’t say this has been my best spell so far. This is just the start and there will be many more, so the best is yet to come.”

The left-arm fast bowler rattled the Indian top-order in their Group A clash last week, returning magnificent figures of 4/35 which included the wickets of star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

With all the noise around Pakistan’s bowling against India’s batting, it is yet to be seen, how Pakistani batters tackle the Indian bowling lineup. It would be interesting to see, only if the weather allows this time around.

FORM GUIDE:

PAKISTAN W, W, W, W, W (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)

INDIA W, W, L, W, L

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD:

Overall ODIs: Matches 133, India 55, Pakistan 73, NR 5

Asia Cup ODI: Matches 14, India 7, Pakistan 5, NR 2

READ More from Asia Cup 2023: Babar Azam believes Pakistan has an ‘edge’ over India

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This rivalry and the game of cricket have evolved massively across decades and have created many stars in both countries, who etched their names in the history books with performances in this storied rivalry.

Asia Cup is an important chapter in this rivalry, where the Asian powerhouses squared off against each other 13 times in the ODI format. India has an edge with seven victories, while Pakistan have come out on top in five games.

Overall, Pakistan and India have faced each other in 132 ODI matches. Pakistan have come out victorious on 73 occasions, whereas India triumphed in 55 matches.

However, barring the famous Champions Trophy final victory in 2017 under the inspired leadership of Sarfaraz Ahmed, Pakistan have failed in four of their last five ODI games against India.

The upcoming Asia Cup clash is going to be the first time these two Asian powerhouses face each other in the ODI format since their 2019 ODI World Cup match in England. Current Indian captain Rohit Sharma guided Men in Blue to the victory over Pakistan, as he played a blistering 140-run knock off 113 balls.

Although India and Pakistan faced each other twice in last year’s Asia Cup, and both teams won one game each, however, last year’s Asia Cup was played in T20I format, as the tournament is played on a rotation between ODI and T20I formats, based on the format of upcoming ICC event.

Pakistan kicked off their Asia Cup 2023 campaign with a dominating 238-run victory over the debutant Nepal in the opening game of the tournament.

Captain Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed scored centuries, gaining much-needed momentum going into the high-octane match against India. However, Pakistani opening batter Fakhar Zaman’s form is a major concern for the team.

Since his undefeated 180 against New Zealand in April, he has only managed to score a mere 139 runs in seven innings, including the recently concluded ODI series against Afghanistan where he scored 59 runs in three matches.

Although Iftikhar Ahmed set the stage on fire against an inexperienced Nepali side, Pakistan’s middle order’s inconsistency is a big woe for the team. Mohammad Rizwan, Agha Salman, and Iftikhar Ahmed have all struggled greatly in recent times.

Meanwhile, Babar Azam’s weakness against wrist spinners is also alarming, with Indian left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav having an excellent record against the Pakistani captain.

Babar Azam faced Kuldeep Yadav in three ODI games and managed to score only 18 runs, while Kuldeep got him out twice.

[totalpoll id=”253110″]

On the other hand, India are facing a team combination conundrum, paired up with injury woes as KL Rahul got ruled out of the first two games of the Asia Cup. He is likely to be replaced by wicketkeeper batter Ishan Kishan.

Ishan Kishan scored three half-centuries at the top of the order in the recently concluded three-match ODI series against West Indies.

However, Indian management rested senior players in the series and tested different combinations. Despite Kishan’s performances, captain Rohit Sharma is expected to return to his usual spot at the top of the order with Shubman Gill as his partner leaving Ishan Kishan to adjust himself in the middle order.

Suryakumar Yadav has been a force to be reckoned with in T20Is, but he failed to replicate his T20I exploits in ODIs, scoring 511 runs in 24 innings at a subpar average of 24.33. Even at his best in T20Is, he failed against Pakistan’s pace attack scoring only 57 runs in four outings.

Pakistan’s pace trio of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf, is arguably the most feared bowling trio in the world and they have all shown their brilliance against the Indian side in T20Is.

With their current form, it is expected to be an enthralling battle between Pakistan pacers and the Indian top order featuring Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

Records suggest that both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma enjoy batting against Pakistan. Virat Kohli averages 48.72 in 13 games, including a match-winning 183 in Asia Cup 2012 match at Mirpur, while, Sharma averages 51.42 in 16 games. Both have registered two centuries each against the arch-rivals.

Nonetheless, it is expected to be a great competition between Virat Kohli and Babar Azam, two of the greatest batters of modern times. Babar Azam is currently sitting at the top of the ODI batting ranking, the position which was once held by Virat Kohli.

Indian bowling line is bolstered by the return of Jasprit Bumrah, who recently made his comeback from injury in the T20I series against Ireland and made an immediate impact with a man-of-the-match performance in the first game. However, his match fitness for the ODI match will be tested against Pakistan in Sri Lankan conditions.

Before taking the field in the much-anticipated clash both teams have played 12 ODIs in the ongoing year and lost only three out of them.

FORM GUIDE:

PAKISTAN — W,W,W,W,L (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
INDIA — W,L,W,L,L

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD:

Asia Cup ODI: Matches-13, India-7, Pakistan-5, NR-1

READ: Pakistan’s Playing XI for Asia Cup 2023 India clash unveiled

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