Highlights
- The match will be played at Dubai International Stadium on August 28, 2022
- India are the defending champions in this year's Asia Cup
- This will be Virat Kohli, 100th T20I
IND vs PAK: The mother of all clashes, the battle of two neighbors torn and tattered by political and ethnic differences. The Indo-Pak clash is not just any regular cricket match, there is a certain kind of buzz in the air. With tempers flaring on both sides of the border, the India-Pakistan matches have always lived up to the expectations of many and always do loads of good to the game of cricket. Due to political rivalries, India and Pakistan do not play each other that often these days. Until and unless there is an ICC event, cricket fans don't get to see much of blue and green have a go at each other. It is almost time for the Asia Cup which starts on August 27, 2022, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The center of focus as of now is the India-Pakistan match that will be played at the Dubai International Stadium on August 28, 2022. The last time when the arch-rivals met, the boys got the better of the men in blue and inflicted a 10-wicket loss upon them which played an instrumental role in derailing their World T20I campaign.
But leaving everything aside, the spotlight remains on two batting talismans who are a pivotal part of their sides, Babar Azam and Virat Kohli. Both Babar Azam and Virat Kohli will be raring to go and will try to dominate the play in their manner. The skipper of Pakistan will want to lead his side from the front and will try to dominate every single opposition that he plays against. He has been a sensational run this year and seems to be scoring runs for fun.
On the other hand, there is a modern-day great, one of the best batsmen the game has ever seen, Virat Kohli. The former Indian skipper is going through a bad patch and is struggling to get rid of it. Kohli, whose last international ton came in November 2019 keeps on finding new ways to get back to the locker room. Former greats of the game such as Mahela Jayawardene, Ricky Ponting, Wasim Akram, and Ravi Shastri have come to Virat's rescue and have asked other teams to be wary of his sudden return to form, which can happen any day and at any given point in time.
As the two heavyweights clash in this marquee event, here is a comprehensive analysis of why there shouldn't be a constant state of comparison between both batters.
India: Virat Kohli
Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli is nothing short of an icon, not only for the game of cricket but also as a representative of the world's largest democracy, India. The Indian batting legend has dominated the game for nearly a decade and his exploits have been legendary. Also known as the chase master, Kohli has won innumerable games for India off his bat and has dominated every opposition in different conditions and different parts of the globe. But things took a sudden turn after the fall of 2019 and matters got worst after the pandemic struck in the initial phase of 2020. Virat Kohli has been going through a lean patch and at the moment he is been trying extremely hard to get his dominant form back. Questions have been asked regarding his frequent breaks and his absence from the Indian outfit. After the conclusion of the Indian Premier League, India has played 15 T20I matches (5 against South Africa, 2 against Ireland, 3 against England, and 5 against West Indies) but Kohli featured in only 3 of them, the ones that were part of India's tour to England. Despite having a bad run at the office for 2 years straight, Virat averages 50.12 and has a strike rate of 137.66 in the shortest format of the game. India has their hopes pinned on Virat Kohli whose return to form will do the Indian team and fans loads of good.
Pakistan: Babar Azam
Taking major leaps in his career and n many ways transforming the Pakistan team and its mindset, skipper Babar Azam has come in as a breath of fresh air for Pakistan cricket and its fans. As of now, the Pakistan captain seems to be in the form of his life and in many ways is similar to what Virat Kohli was in 2016. The camaraderie that Virat and Babar share off the field is worth mentioning. Pakistan's captain for all formats is currently batting on auto-pilot mode and is making the craft of batting look extremely easy, which certainly is not the case. When both India and Pakistan met in the T20I World in the year 2021, Babar Azam scored a sublime 62* off 52 deliveries. As of now Babar averages 45.53 and has a strike rate of 129.45 in the T20I format.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), 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. Standby: Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Hasnain
