ISLAMABAD: India will face Pakistan in a blockbuster 2022 Asia Cup clash on August 28 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
The arch-rivals will return to the same venue after almost 10 months as the last time both teams met at the 2021 T20 World Cup where Babar Azam’s side secured a comprehensive 10-wicket win over India.
Since then, India has made many changes to their approach in this format under the leadership of new captain Rohit Sharma but former Pakistan skipper Rashid Latif believes that the huge 10-wicket defeat in the T20 WC clash did “a lot of damage” to the Indian team.
“I don’t think the World Cup would be in their (India’s) mind. They are taking it series by series, it’s worth noting that teams are changing with every series. Their focus will be on the Asia Cup. The loss against Pakistan caused a lot of damage to the Indian team, so they are trying to recover from it,” Latif said on his official YouTube channel ‘Caught Behind’.
“You can play as many series as you want, but the match between India and Pakistan remains very important. I believe the Indian team, the board, the management will pay significant attention to the match against Pakistan in the Asia Cup. They would want to win the Asia Cup, and if all the players are available for India, they can be favourites.”
The 53-year-old acknowledged that the Men in Blue had an upper hand in the games between the two arch-rivals in recent past but the latest victory by Pakistan at the T20 World Cup gave them a massive boost.
“The conditions in the UAE suit them. India will give their all in the game against Pakistan. They have dominated the clashes between both sides in the past 20 years, but Pakistan did win by 10 wickets in their last game. So the planning will go into it,” concluded Latif.
