Pakistan need bigger partnerships to push India in Super four clash, claims Venkatesh Prasad

SportsCafe Desk
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Former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad believes that in order to secure a win against India, Pakistan will have to stay on the crease for longer periods in the Super 4 clash. In the group match between the sides in the Asia Cup, India had won by 8 wickets after curbing Pakistan to just 162 runs.

India's last performance against Pakistan, on September 19, resulted in a remarkable victory for the Indians with Pakistan being bowled out for just 162 runs. Initially, Pakistan had won the toss and chose to bat and the opening partnership between Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq was non-existent as Bhuvneshwar Kumar ran through them early. Despite Babar Azam and Shoaib Malik consolidating the innings to an extent, the Indian spinners ensured that the team in green finished with a sub par score. 

India and Pakistan will face each other on Sunday, September 23 in the Asia Cup clash in their 'super four’ match. According to Venkatesh Prasad, Pakistan will have to form long term partnerships if they want a chance against India. He added that Pakistan will have to rely on the fitness of their bowler Shadab Khan, who had effectively snatched up the wicket of stand-in skipper, Rohit Sharma in the last match.

“For Pakistan to push India, it is important for the batsmen to occupy the crease for a long period, build partnerships and convert the starts. If they bat first, there has to be at least 280 runs on the board for the bowlers to defend. Although batting first is a challenge in the Dubai conditions, Pakistan may prefer to, considering they are not the best chasers," Prasad wrote in his column for TOI.

“Against India, they will hope for leg-spinner and allrounder Shadab Khan to be fit in time for the match. In the previous match between the two sides, the youngster foxed India’s in-form skipper Rohit Sharma with his googly but had to be rested for Friday’s match against Afghanistan," he said.

In the recently concluded match between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the former had managed a very difficult win, chasing the target until the last over of the match. Prasad feels Afghanistan will be a challenge for Bangladesh as well when they clash in ‘super four’ match.

“The Afghans have made rapid progress and it would not be out of place to call them one of the most competitive teams in the tournament," Prasad said. "Given their win against Sri Lanka and the fight they put up against Pakistan, they are a dangerous side. Do not be surprised if they emerge the winners on Sunday night,” he said.

Prasad was all praises for the Indian bowlers stating that they have continued their good form in the Asian Cup, after they performed well in the England series. He also appreciated Ravindra Jadeja for snatching four wickets in his coming back match.

“Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah in the pace department and Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Kedar Jadhav on the spin front have complemented the firing batting unit," said Prasad.

"Against Bangladesh, it was heartening to see the return of Ravindra Jadeja to one-day internationals after more than a year. I’m not surprised by his form because I’ve always believed Jadeja is better suited to the shorter format of the game,” he added.

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