‘They have a balanced squad’ – Former Pakistan bowler on Indian Cricket Team ahead of Asia Cup 2023

Asia Cup 2023 is scheduled to kick start on August 30. The first match of the tournament is set to be played between Pakistan and Nepal in Multan, Pakistan. India will play their opening fixture of the Asia Cup against arch-rivals Pakistan on September 2 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The last edition of the Asia Cup was won by Sri Lanka, which was played in the United Arab Emirates.

The Men in Green recently whitewashed the Afghanistan side 3-0 in the ODI series. There is a possibility that the Green Brigade and Men in Blue face a total of three times in the 16th edition of the Asia Cup, one time in Super 4s and the third time in the final of the tournament.

I think they are trying different things: Wasim Akram

Former Pakistan seamer, Wasim Akram warned that it is harmful to underestimate the other opposition.  “India versus Pakistan is very important, we know about so much support (teams get), so many eyeballs, so many people (following). But other teams are also here to play so you cannot minus Sri Lanka or Bangladesh,” Akram was quoted as saying by PTI.

Akram opined that Team India has a balanced squad whereas Pakistan has a good bunch of seamers. “I think they are trying different things, new players especially in the T20 format, also a new captain. They have a balanced squad. But it will not be easy for India or any team,” Akram asserted.

India squad for Asia Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and Sanju Samson (back-up).

Pakistan squad for Asia Cup 2023: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir (travelling reserve).