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Asia Cup 2022: Cheteshwar Pujara praises PAK cricketer ahead of India vs Pakistan clash
Cheteshwar Pujara had special praise for a Pakistan cricketer ahead of their Asia Cup 2022 clash vs India, on Sunday.
With Asia Cup 2022 set to begin on Saturday, focus will be on Sunday's mega-clash between India and Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai. Most recently both these sides met in the T20 World Cup last year, where Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets in their tournament opener and the result proved to be crucial as India failed to progress from the Super 12 stage. A three-wicket haul by Shaheen Shah Afridi saw Pakistan restrict India to 151 for seven in 20 overs, with the pacer dismissing KL Rahul (3), Rohit Sharma (0) and Virat Kohli (57). Chasing a target of 152 runs, Pakistan cruised to 152 in 17.5 overs without losing a single wicket. Openers Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam stitched together an unbeaten partnership to help Pakistan seal a win without much hassle.
With Shaheen ruled out of the tournament due to injury, all eyes will once again be on Rizwan and Azam against India. In the T20 World Cup win vs India, Rizwan hammered 79 runs off 55 balls, including six fours and three sixes. Meanwhile, captain Babar hammered 68 runs off 52 balls, with six fours and two maximums. The duo remained unbeaten with Pakistan eventually reaching the semi-finals.
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Ahead of Asia Cup's India vs Pakistan match, veteran Test cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara opened up on playing with Rizwan which could prove to be a warning for Rohit and co. The duo played together for Sussex in the County Championships 2022. Pujara was asked by a fan on Twitter about his experience of playing with Rizwan, to which he replied, "I enjoyed my time with him, he is a very nice guy and a talented cricketer".
Meanwhile, Rizwan had earlier spoken about playing with Pujara. The wicketkeeper-batter also stated that he would like to see both countries play bilateral series. Both India and Pakistan last played against each other in a bilateral white-ball series in 2012 and in a Test series in 2007.
"Everyone wants to see Pakistan and India play bilateral series or other matches but the state-level affairs are not in the hands of the players," Rizwan told reporters in Lahore.
"I get the impression that players of both sides want to play regularly against each other but we can't do anything".
"You learn from being with such senior players and I picked up things from Pujara mainly from the way he focuses and concentrates while batting," he further added.
