‘It’s Not Just Pakistan..’: Rohit Sharma Wary of Sri Lanka, Afghanistan Threat In Asia Cup
New Delhi: The Asia Cup will be a great opportunity for Asian teams to prepare for the following World Cup in India. The gala event will start on August 30, with Pakistan taking on Nepal in Lahore. India and Pakistan will go into the tournament as favourites. Pakistan recently thrashed Afghanistan 3-0 in the ODI series.
Meanwhile, India have named a full-strength squad for the tournament, with injured KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer returning to the set-up. Jasprit Bumrah will also make a comeback to the senior team to bolster the bowling attack.
The India vs Pakistan match is one of the most anticipated games of the tournament. The bilateral ties between the arch-rivals are suspended due to political tensions so the Asia Cup and World Cups are only opportunities for the fans to witness the mouth-watering encounter.
India are likely to face strong resistance from Pakistan in the Asia Cup, however, captain Rohit Sharma feels that not just Pakistan, but other teams will also test the Men in Blue.
‘It’s not just Pakistan, there are other teams,’ Rohit Sharma said on the hype around the India vs Pakistan clash as quoted by TOI.
‘Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup last year so there are teams who are playing good cricket and will challenge us,’ Rohit added.
India and Pakistan are set to clash on September 2 in Pallekele. The arch-rivals will again meet in the Super 4s if there are no upsets in the Group stage. The possibility of the teams clashing in the final can also not be denied.
Asia Cup Squads (India & Pakistan)
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir (travelling reserve).
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumraj, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson (travelling reserve).