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Asia Cup T20: India vs Pakistan Predictions
India will clash with Pakistan in the first game of Group A in the Asia Cup 2022.
The match will be held on August 28 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
If both the teams qualify from their group, they will again face each other in the Super 4 stage, and possibly a third time in the final.
Head to Head history
India are the defending champions and have won the Asia Cup a record seven times.
They will be looking to bag their third consecutive Asia cup triumph.
Pakistan has won the Asia Cup twice. They last won it in 2012 when the tournament was held in Bangladesh.
The two nations have played each other on 14 occasions in the competition and India has won 8 of them, while Pakistan won 5 times.
One game had no result.
If we consider only T20 games, India has won seven and lost two out of nine games played.
Current T20 form
India are enjoying a spectacular run of form.
They have played 20 T20I matches in 2022 alone, winning 16.
They thrashed West Indies (3-0) and Sri Lanka (3-0) and drew with South Africa (2-2).
Then they won against Ireland (2-0), England (2-1), and West Indies (4-1).
Pakistan meanwhile has only played 7 T20Is since the T20 World Cup last year.
They beat Bangladesh (3-0) and West Indies (3-0) in 2021. However, they lost to Australia this year.
Overall team news
India has a great mix of youth and experience which can trump any team in the world.
India will be strengthened by the return of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja.
Virat Kohli has been the most successful batsman for India in the Asia cup in recent years and will want to build on that.
The trio of big hitting all-rounders – Hooda, Pandya, Jadeja – will add a lot of depth to the Indian side.
The only negative is – the team has played too much cricket and that too, with different squads, under different captains.
Too much chopping and changing can upset the rhythm sometimes.
On the other hand, Pakistan has had a more relaxed cricket calendar and this will help them stay fresh for a major tournament.
Captain Babar Azam is the player in form along with Mohammad Rizwan.
They are the world’s first and third ranked T20 batters in the world respectively.
The absence of Shaheen Afridi is a big blow though Mohammad Hasnain is a capable replacement.
The one department where India has a clear superiority is spin bowling.
The pitch in Dubai is expected to assist spinners.
While Pakistan has competent spinners in Usman Qadir and left-armer Mohammad Nawaz, India’s spin attack looks more potent with the likes of Chahal, Axar Patel, Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav and Ashwin.
India Likely 11
Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (VC), Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh
Pakistan Likely 11
Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan (VC), Hasan Ali, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf
Key player for India
Hardik Pandya is in sensational form with with 281 runs and 8 wickets in his last 13 games.
The resurgence began with IPL 2022, where Pandya led Gujarat Titans to the title in their debut season.
He is expected to be a game-changer for India, with bat and ball.
Key player for Pakistan
Mohammad Rizwan has been in sublime form for Pakistan in 2022.
In the T20Is, the wicket-keeper batter has scored a mind-boggling 1349 runs in just 27 innings.
With an average of 71.00 and a strike rate of 134.63, Rizwan is the most dangerous batter in the Pakistan side.
Prediction
Though it will be a tough contest, India has a much better side and will emerge winners.
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Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry star in RCB women’s comeback win against UP Warriorz in WPL 2024
RCB women overcame UP Warriorz by 23 runs to clinch their third win of the season. The home side outperformed Warriorz in all the facets of the game and emerged victorious. A collective team effort, particularly with the bat, helped RCB women to beat Warriorz for the second time in the season. They now have three wins in their five matches in the WPL 2024.
Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to field first. Given how things have panned out in the league so far, it needed a great batting performance from RCB to challenge the chasing side. The home side did exactly that. They were full of intent which was lacking in the last few games. Right from the start, S Meghana and Smriti Mandhana smashed the bowlers.
It was the night of the RCB skipper. The Southpaw scored 80(50) in her stay. S Meghana perished after a valuable 28(21). Ellyse Perry batted well and registered her first fifty of the WPL 2024. She was aided well towards the end by Richa Ghosh whose 21(10) propelled RCB to a score of 198 on the board. It was the highest team total in the WPL 2024.
Alyssa Healy’s efforts go in vain
Chasing the daunting total, UP Warriorz were off to a flier. The opening duo of Healy and Kiran Navgire gave a fiery start to the visiting side. When the two were batting in the PP overs, it seemed like the Warriorz could pull off an insane chase. However, Sophie Devine brought RCB back into the game with crucial wickets. At Bengaluru, the home crowd was literally behind the RCB women.
It helped the home side to stay calm and do their job with ease. Sophie Molineux and Asha Sobhana were the pick of the bowlers, who claimed 2/29 each in their spell of four overs. While Healy scored a fifty and Deepti tried her best in the death overs, ten daunting targets could not be chased down. Despite the early hiccups, RCB managed to restrict UP Warriorz to a score of 175 and won by 23 runs.
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WATCH: Ellyse Perry in disbelief as her six breaks car’s window
Ellyse Perry smashed a six in the match against UP Warriorz in the WPL 2024. It was an interesting six as the ball travelled towards the boundary ropes and fell exactly on the window of the car. As a result, the glass of the window was broken. The car is set to be provided as a reward for the player of the tournament.
It was the over of Deepti Sharma towards the last few moments of RCB’s innings. Before Perry struck, the home side was in a great position in the match, thanks to a great start provided by Smriti Mandhana. The star batter scored 80 (50) and shined in front of the home crowd. Her form helped RCB to have a good momentum towards the death overs.
Watch the viral video here –
ELLYSE PERRY HAS BROKE THE GLASS OF THE CAR…!!! 🤯
– The reaction of Perry was priceless!! pic.twitter.com/zaxiQLLN1r
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 4, 2024
Perry, who was struggling till that point, opened up and smashed the bowlers for fun. She went hard against the spinners like Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Deepti Sharma who were asked to bowl at the death. The right-handed batter smashed back-to-back sixes in the over of Sharma. One of those travelled towards the mid-wicket region where the car was stationed. The video of her shot has gone viral on X.
RCB teammates laugh, Ellyse Perry in disbelief
As the ball fell on the car and damaged the window, the fans erupted. There was no end to the joy of the fans who started chanting “Perry.. Perry..” and lit the atmosphere of the stadium. However, Perry was in disbelief. As she saw the impact of the ball damaging the car’s window, the Australian batter could not believe her eyes and thought about what she had just done.
On the other hand, the RCB teammates of Perry were in awe of the shot. They looked at the replays and appreciated the shot of Perry. At the same time, players like Sophie Molineux and Sophie Devine had a laugh about the car’s window getting damaged. Ellyse scored a fifty and helped her team score 198 runs with her batting in front of the home crowd.
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Praveen Kumar addresses Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s negligence of taking part in Ranji Trophy
Praveen Kumar has given his opinion on the preferences of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer in recent times. The duo did not take part in the Ranji Trophy matches for their respective teams despite being fit. It did not go well with the Indian Cricket Board which landed the duo without a ventral contract which was announced a few days back.
Praveen Kumar has reacted to the issue recently. The former India pacer claimed that he has been of an opinion on the issue for a long time. Praveen felt that one should definitely earn money but not at the cost of neglecting to play for domestic and national teams. The right-arm pacer felt that players today are having a certain mentality which is not good.
The former pacer claimed that the players have a mindset that they can rest for a month before taking part in the IPL, thereby bypassing playing for their national team or the domestic teams. Praveen felt that the players could not resist letting go of money which they could earn by taking part in the IPL and other T20 leagues (For foreign players).
‘Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun’ – Praveen Kumar
“This thing is now firmly in the mind of players. Mai ek mahine pehle rest kar lunga, fir IPL khel lunga. Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun,” said Praveen in the interview. He claimed that youngsters these days are spoilt and are behind money. The former RCB pacer felt that it is not fair on the part of the young players to neglect the country over the IPL.
Kumar felt that a player needs to maintain a balance between playing for the IPL team and for the country. He felt that money is an important factor, but not at the cost of playing for the national team. “But this is not fair at all. A player needs to balance things. Money is important, but this (giving franchise cricket the priority) is wrong,” said the former Indian bowler in the interview.
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