EXCLUSIVE | Asia Cup, IND vs PAK: Ex-Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria slams KL Rahul's selection over Samson

Team India and Pakistan are set to face each other in the mega battle on Sunday. While the Rohit Sharma-led team will want to utilize their newfound aggressive approach. Pakistan will aim to register a victory and start on a high note.

Ahead of the match, former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria slammed India's decision to include KL Rahul instead of players like Sanju Samson and Shubman Gill in the team.

"I am surprised by KL Rahul's inclusion in the squad," Kaneria said in an exclusive interview with India TV.

"Rahul came from an injury and was given a chance to play on the Zimbabwe tour, now he is being included in the Asia Cup team, which is early. He should have given a rest. On the other hand, there are players like Sanju Samson who should have been given a chance to perform for the team," he added.

KL Rahul  returned to the Indian side in the ODI series against Zimbabwe after recovering from injury to lead the men in blue. His performance in the series that India won by 3-0 was underwhelming.

Talking about the place of Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant in the squad, Danish said "Rishabh is yet to display a good performance in the T20 cricket, but he might do well in the Asia Cup. While Dinesh Karthik who has been in the team will likely take the responsibility of the finisher."

India squad: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir, Mohammed Hasnain, Hasan Ali