India is all set to take on Pakistan for the second time in a week as the arch-rivals clash in Super 4s of the Asia Cup 2022 on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium, Dubai. Ravindra Jadeja, who played both the games in Asia Cup against Pakistan and Hong Kong, has been ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury. The Indian team mangement is left with the big question of who will replace the all-rounder. Axar Patel has been added to the squad. However, India head coach Rahul Dravid has hinted that veteran spinner, R Ashwin could replace Jadeja for the big game against Pakistan.
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"It is great to have someone like R Ashwin in the squad, who has the ability to bowl four overs and bat down the order as well. Off-spinners could play crucial role in the T20 game as well. Teams like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have quality off-spinners. We will use ours if we need," Rahul said during the press conference ahead of the Pakistan game.
Ravindra Jadeja's Injury
Talking about Ravindra Jadeja's injury, Dravid said," Jadeja, he has injured his knee. Obviously, he is ruled out for the Asia Cup. He's under the care of the medical team, he has gone to see the doctors, he has gone to see the experts. The World Cup is a fair way away, so we don't want to jump to any conclusions and rule him out or rule him in. We'll see how it goes. It's part of sports. People get injured. It's part of our job to try and manage them, manage how it goes," he added. A lot will depend on the rehab and the severity of the injury. We'll see how it goes. I don't want to rule him out or make too many comments until we have a much clearer picture and we have a better idea. Specially the World Cup is 6-7 weeks away now."
With Ravindra Jadeja not available, Axar Patel seems a straightaway replacement but the team combination does take a hit in the absence of the Saurashtra all-rounder. In the last game against Pakistan, head coach Rahul Dravid promoted Jadeja to number four to keep the left-right combination going in the top six as Rishabh Pant was dropped from the playing XI. It remains to be seen if skipper Rohit Sharma and Dravid will take the gamble again on Sunday. But it won't be an exaggeration to say that when it comes to requirement of having a pure left-hand batter in top six, only the man from Roorkee can provide the solution.
Last Sunday, it was Hardik Pandya’s one-man show that got India over the line in a thrilling last-over finish and Rohit would expect that intensity is maintained in this game too. However, the Indian team despite being a minefield of talent does have a soft underbelly and the top-order’s cautious approach in the Powerplay overs is one of them. Neither Virat Kohli nor Rohit looked comfortable against the Pakistani attack and as the pitch got slower their problems seemed to have compounded. It was Suryakumar Yadav’s sheer brilliance that saved India from what was turning out to be an embarrassing batting display against minnows Hong Kong with an out-of-sorts KL Rahul playing his slowest-ever (36 off 39 balls) innings.
A pertinent question now arises if India will change their top order and add some firepower since it is now clear that the combination of Rahul, Rohit and Kohli isn’t working well for the team. To be fair to Rahul, he deserves a go at the top for one more time as he was dismissed by Naseem Shah in the very first ball he faced in Sunday's game. But the think-tank needs to spell it out clearly to Rahul that he needs to change his outlook of looking at the quantum of runs rather than the quality and impact it creates. The Pakistan team, on its part, would also like to score more in the first 10 overs. Mohammed Rizwan and Babar Azam have had all the success while chasing but batting first hasn't exactly been the strong point of the pair. Also, the slowness of the Dubai track does create a few problems for the batters. This raises another question whether Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh can both feature in the playing eleven.
While Axar's restrictive bowling is an option, Deepak Hooda as a batting all-rounder or Ravichandran Ashwin as a bowling all-rounder can be tried out. With two left-handers in Fakhar Zaman and Khushdil Shah in top six, an off-spinner taking the ball away could prove to be a good proposition along with Bhuvneshwar and Hardik, who are bowling full tilt. In all, another Super Sunday could well be on the cards as the two bitter neighbours get ready to lock horns.
Full Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir, Mohammed Hasnain, Hasan Ali.
Match starts at 7.30pm IST.
