Asia Cup | India’s Predicted XI for second league game against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai
After India's lacklustre performance against Hong Kong, they are all set to meet Pakistan in their second game of the ongoing Asia Cup. The neighbouring countries will be playing an international cricket match after more than a year and all eyes will be on the 22 players taking the field today.
Openers
Rohit Sharma: The Indian skipper for the Asia Cup got out playing a poor shot after getting a decent start in the first game against Hong Kong. He needs to put up a good show against the Men in Green today and provide a start that the Indians need with the bat in order to make up for the fragile middle-order.
Shikhar Dhawan: After a terrible England tour, Dhawan got a hundred against Hong Kong and was adjudged Man of the Match. His knock of 127 runs
Middle-order
Ambati Rayudu: After failing to make it to England because of his failure to pass the yo-yo test, the Hyderabad batsman is once again back in the ODI team and in the absence of skipper Kohli, he came out at number three yesterday. His knock of 60 off 70 balls and the left hand-right hand combination proved crucial for the Indians. Even KL Rahul comes into the team, Rayudu should bat one down in the tournament.
KL Rahul: India might look forward to trying out with Rahul at number four which could solve their problem of a decent middle-order batsman. Although the Karnataka batsman has a good record at the top of the order, he will not mind batting in the middle order once he gets a place in the playing XI. Dinesh Karthik might just make way for Rahul to come into the side.
MS Dhoni: The former skipper came out to bat at the same position against Hong Kong as well but went back into the hut without even scoring a run. He has always wanted to bat a position up in the batting order but Dhoni at the fifth position will solve the problem of a proper finisher towards the end of the innings.
All-rounder
Kedar Jadhav: Jadhav will have a bigger role to play both with the bat and the ball, pretty much
Hardik Pandya: Despite not being that consistent in international cricket, Hardik is still India's choice as a genuine all-rounder. Pandya will come back into the team after being rested for the first game yesterday and that will strengthen India's batting against a quality Pakistani bowling attack.
Pacers
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: It will be really hard on Khaleel Ahmed's part after he ended with 3/48 yesterday, but the Indian team management will go in with the experienced Bhuvi ahead of the youngster. The UP pacer didn't look in rhythm and gave away 50 runs in nine overs without any wicket yesterday. He is back in the side after recovering from back-pain and might take a couple of matches to get into the groove once again.
Jasprit Bumrah: Jasprit Bumrah was given a rest in the first game and now he is all set to get back to action as India take on Pakistan today. He had a good run in England and India missed him dearly in the first game. The Gujarat pacer will be ready to unleash the yorkers against the Pakistani openers and will replace Shardul Thakur who didn't have a great game yesterday.
Spinners
Yuzvendra Chahal: The Indian wrist-spinners didn't have a great day at the office yesterday in conditions not that friendly for them. Although Chahal picked up three wickets in the end, he didn't find it easy in breaking the opening stand while defending the total.
Kuldeep Yadav: Same goes for Kuldeep as well. Yadav got the wicket of Anshuman Rath and broke the 174-run stand in the first game. He will again look forward to doing well and this time with more intent. With Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq in the top order, Kuldeep might be brought into the attack earlier by Rohit in the second game.