Asian Cricket Council President Jay Shah announced the Asia Cup 2022 schedule on Tuesday (August 2). The flagship game between archrivals India and Pakistan is the highlight of the calendar.
The second game of the tournament will be played on August 28 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium between Rohit Sharma’s India and Babar Azam’s Pakistan.
It will be a high-octane encounter, with India looking to avenge an embarrassing 10-wicket setback at the same location a year ago in the T20 World Cup 2022.
The match tickets have not yet been released, but anticipate them to sell out in seconds because this is the mother of all battles.
But few realise that India and Pakistan might meet not once, but three times in the Asia Cup. Yes, you read that correctly. India and Pakistan have been assigned to the same group A as another qualifier.
Following the group stages, the group winner will play the second team in the group again on September 4, and the top two will almost probably be India and Pakistan, as the Qualifier team will be an associate nation.
As a result, India will face Pakistan again on September 4 at the same site, Dubai.
And there is a good potential that these two teams will meet again in the final of Asia Cup 2022, as they are the two greatest teams in the competition and are expected to go far in the tournament.
If it happens, India would play Pakistan three times in 16 days, which will be a huge bonus for supporters on both sides of the border, because the two sides no longer play bilateral series against each other.
Rohit: attacking approach is best for India
India skipper Rohit Sharma wants his team to continue playing more attacking cricket in the lead-up to this year’s T20 World Cup and is willing to accept the occasional setback as a result of the more aggressive approach.
India’s hitters were thrashed by an Obed McCoy-inspired West Indies by five wickets in St Kitts on Monday, their fourth T20I loss of the year.
Rohit was one of McCoy’s six victims in the match, with the West Indies pacer tearing down India’s star-studded batting order to help bowl out the tourists for 138 in the penultimate over.
But Rohit said there is no need to panic and the odd disappointing result will continue to fall India’s way while they continue to attack more with the bat.
“Really, really happy with how the bowlers bowled, but of course, there are certain things in our batting that we really need to look at,” Rohit said after the loss.
“But again, I will say that as well: we will continue to bat in that kind of fashion because we want to achieve something. Unless you try and do it, you will not achieve.
“So, I think, one odd result here and there, we shouldn’t panic. It’s just about giving those guys that clarity, and after one loss we are not trying to change anything. We will keep the same intensity and same intent with the bat.”
