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Cricket Players'What are you saying...?': Rohit Sharma left confused over reporter's 'IND vs PAK' question, later left tongue-tied
India have met Pakistan 16 times in Asia Cup, the second-most for India against a single opponent after Sri Lanka (21), but none of them came in a final.
India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have been the three powerhouses of cricket in Asia with the trio having won all the 11 Asia Cup tournaments, across the two white-ball formats in T20I and ODI, among themselves. However, while there have been eight finals between India and Sri Lanka and four between Pakistan and the Islanders, there have been none between the arch-rivals in India and Pakistan. The Men in Blue have in fact met Pakistan 16 times in the tournament's history, the second-most for India against a single opponent after Sri Lanka (21), but none of them came in a final.
On the eve of the blockbuster clash between the two rival nations at the Pallekele International Stadium in Sri Lanka as part of the 2023 Asia Cup, India skipper Rohit Sharma was asked about this strange fact and he was left confused by the query.
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Speaking to the press on Friday before the group-stage encounter, Rohit admitted that it wasn't “surprising” at all, before he pointed out that India did face Pakistan in a final, but the captain had mistaken it for the 2007 T20 World Cup.
“Not surprised. That is how the tournament has gone for both teams. But no...what are you saying? We played 2007 T20 World Cup final,” he said.
And as the reporter repeated his question again, stressing on Asia Cup, Rohit was left tongue-tied.
He replied: “I don't know. What can I say about that? Probably...maybe in this tournament.”
For the two teams to make the final, they need to qualify for the Super Four befre booking their place in the summit clash. Having beaten Nepal earlier this week, Pakistan are a win away from making the next round while India will only be plating their first match on Saturday.
This will be the first time the two teams will face each other in the ODI format after four years, having lasted met in 2019 World Cup. Overall, India hold the edge going by the tournament history having won seven of their 12 encounters in the format.
'Asia Cup is not a fitness test'
India's match against Pakistan will see the return of fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer returning to the ODI set-up after a considerable time. While Bumrah made his return in the T20I series against Ireland last month, Iyer, who has been out since March this year, will likely play his first match on Saturday. However, Rohit asserted that Asia Cup is not a fitness test and the team will have to put its game face on.
“By no means this (Asia Cup 2023) is a fitness test. This tournament is played between the top six Asian teams. So, it's a very big tournament.
"The fitness test, fitness camp…. all that was done in Bangalore. Now, we have to go ahead and get our game face on and see what we can achieve in this (tournament),” said Rohit.
