On August 28, Rohit Sharma's India will meet arch-rivals Pakistan in what promises to be an electrifying encounter in the men's Asia Cup Group A match in Dubai. Incidentally, this venue had also witnessed the last game between both sides in the previous year's T20 World Cup, where a Babar Azam-led side cruised to a stunning 10-wicket victory. Shaheen Afridi was the star of the match in that game, removing the Indian top-3 to put the side in instant pressure.
However, Pakistan faced a setback ahead of the continental tournament this year as Afridi was forced to miss the Asia Cup due to a knee injury, that he sustained during the first Test against Sri Lanka last month. Despite remaining in close contact with team physio ever since, Afridi eventually failed to recover in time. Last week, Pakistan's legendary former pacer Waqar Younis had said that India would be “relieved” to not be facing Afridi in the Asia Cup; now, Aaqib Javed has made a similar claim.
Also read: India vs Pakistan: Head to head, key stats and records as arch rivals meet again in Asia Cup
Javed also mentioned Mohammad Amir, who had famously routed the Indian top-order during the 2017 Champions Trophy final.
{{/usCountry}}Javed also mentioned Mohammad Amir, who had famously routed the Indian top-order during the 2017 Champions Trophy final.
{{/usCountry}}“India are very relieved. What Amir did to them, what Shaheen did to them, that was their only threat. They will lose only when their top-order falls early. Because when Kohli arrives and the wickets have fallen early, him being out-of-form and under pressure would make it quite difficult for him,” Aaqib said during an interaction with Geo.
Earlier on Friday, Pakistan had also faced another setback as Mohammad Wasim was ruled out of the Asia Cup after a back injury.
The Asia Cup begins later tonight with Sri Lanka taking on Afghanistan in Group A. Alongside India and Pakistan, Hong Kong are a part of Group B and Rohit Sharma's men will take on the latter on August 31.