Team India will look to settle the score when they play Pakistan at the Asia Cup, which starts from August 27 in the UAE. The tie between Pakistan and India will be played a day later at the Dubai International Stadium, the same venue where India endured a 10-wicket thrashing by Babar Azam and co at the T20 World Cup last year.
India will miss out on the services of their premier seamer Jasprit Bumrah, who is not part of the squad due to an injury. In his absence the pace department will be spearheaded by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, with young Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan for support.
Despite lacking experience in the seam department, former Pakistan international Salman Butt considers India to be a favourite to lift the continental cup. Responding to a question on his YouTube channel, whether India start as a favourite, Butt said: “They definitely can," before making a joke by adding: "Do they lack vitamins?”
Explaining why India have a good chance to win the tournament, the ex-Pakistan opener said: “Any of the competing teams can win. Realistically, India have been playing really well. They have a big pool of players, and most of the guys have gained international experience. That’s why people are terming them favorites.”
{{/usCountry}}Explaining why India have a good chance to win the tournament, the ex-Pakistan opener said: “Any of the competing teams can win. Realistically, India have been playing really well. They have a big pool of players, and most of the guys have gained international experience. That’s why people are terming them favorites.”
{{/usCountry}}Commenting on the set of players Pakistan will line-up for the Asia Cup, Butt highlighted the lack of bench strength unlike their rivals India. "Pakistan do not have a pool of players. We have not created one. We are not trusting our own system, so we don’t play our second string team anywhere. We cannot rest Babar (Azam), (Muhammad) Rizwan, Shaheen (Afridi) and Fakhar (Zaman) together. We do not have that confidence,” he said.
Meanwhile, sharing on other teams participating in the tournament, Butt said: “There is Pakistan. Everybody knows that, on their day, they can beat anybody. T20 cricket is such a format where one good partnership can decide the fate of the game. It all depends on the day. Afghanistan are also a dark horse. Bangladesh, sometimes, plays very good cricket, but on other days they are very bad.”