India vs Pak: Abhishek holds the key but team should be ready to shift gears

The hype around Asia Cup has been always built around India and Pakistan – though it’s roll of honour tells a different story. While India have won it the maximum times with eight titles, Sri Lanka are second with six and Pakistan two – despite all the green shirts’ past glory. It’s also a bit intriguing that the arch rivals are clashing in a final of the tournament only for the second time in history on Sunday.

 There are no prizes for guessing that Suryakumar Yadav’s men enjoy a clear edge despite looking often fallible – while Pakistan fans will be hoping that the roll of the dice goes their way after two back-to-back defeats in the league and Super Four stages. It’s not a battle of equals anymore if one looks at the track record in recent past but then, the shortest format always has a penchant for throwing up unpredictable results.

 This is where the T20 world champions have to tighten up their game as there had been a number of loose ends despite their all-win record in six matches so far.

They have been all too dependent on the fire-and-ice combination of world No.1 T20 batter Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill while the middle order has shown a soft underbelly, the captain’s form and cavalier attitude a matter of concern, the bowling often lacking teeth despite the presence of Jasprit Bumrah and heavily reliant on the magic of the spinners on a helpful Dubai surface.

 If that’s not enough, the catching had been embarrasing under the ‘Ring of Fire’ floodlights of Dubai – a factor which has generated complaints from other teams in the past but India have played a lot of their cricket there in recent times to be able to cope with it.  The wisdom of Surya trying to belittle the India-Pakistan cricket rivalry after their Super Four win is also questionable – as it indirectly invites pressure on his own teammates rather than rivals.

 It’s in this backdrop, not to speak of a politically surcharged atmosphere, that the two teams meet each other thrice in as many weeks – ensuring the eyeballs for the broadcasters and giving the final line-up the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) wanted. The ICC censure of Surya and the two Pakistan players appears to be only a stitch in time to ensure that there is no recurrence of statements or gestures with political overtones, not to speak of any unsavoury ripple effect in the crowd.    

 There is no doubt that Abhishek’s form has upstaged the presence of other decorated batters in the tournament – including that of his childhood friend Gill. In the inconsequential game against the Lankans on Friday night, he again blazed his way for a third successive fifty in the Super Four and became the first batter in the history of Asia Cup to cross the 300-run mark in a single edition.

The pupil of Yuvraj Singh went past Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan to become the highest rungetter in a single edition of the T20 Asia Cup with 310 runs from six innings so far – with one more to go. Rizwan’s tally was 281 in 2022 edition while Virat Kohli held that record for India earlier with 276 runs (2022).

 The 25-year-old southpaw holds the key in the powerplay in the big game – but the Men in Blue should be ready to shift gears if needed. Pakistan’s former greats like Shoaib Akhtar have been advising to go for Abhishek’s prized wicket early, with the possible means of preventing him from freeing his arms or trying to break his rhythm by getting spinner Sami Ayub on early. Should he fall prey to the law of averages, the onus lies on batters with abilities like Gill and Tilak Varma to anchor the innings sensibly.

 While it’s the openers who had been making life easy for India so far, the side needs to play as per the needs of the situation as they have a match to win – not a war of words or brownie points. The painstaking century of Kohli – a 100 of 111 balls – in India’s chase on a trying surface in Dubai during the ICC Champions Trophy match earlier this year can offer them a right template to look upto.

 A section of Pakistan media and fans, meanwhile, are drawing parallels with the 2017 Champions Trophy in England where after a convincing win in the league stage, Kohli’s men were blown away by a perfect Pakistan in the final. They may not have a Mohammed Amir anymore, but one has to be watchful of the extra pace of Haris Rauf and a resurgent Shaheen Afridi.

Catch the match

Asia Cup final (Sunday)

India vs Pakistan

Dubai International Stadium, 8 pm (IST)