Asia Cup 2022 preview: Can Bumrah-less India get their revenge on Pakistan?

A captain with a new batting philosophy and a master batter standing at the crossroads trying to reinvent himself will aim to create a new narrative when India get ready to settle scores with Pakistan in the marquee Asia Cup match here on SundayRohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been the two pillars of Indias whiteball team for the past decade but having received a rude jolt at this very venue 10 months back during the T20 World Cup the duo exactly know where they stand and what they need to do to turn the tablesWhile Rohit will be eagar to test his ultra aggressive batting template against the Asian giants for Kohli it will be the perfect platform to return to form after enduring a tough phase in the last few yearsThere would be a bigger picture also and that is to set the core combination for the T20 World Cup in Australia in order by the end of this tournamentWith no bilateral contests between the crossborder neighbours for 10 years now and nothing on the anvil in near future the geopolitical tension does always make for a heady buildupBut the lack of regular games mean that IndoPak rivalries are rather held between unfamiliar foes rather than familiar onesOne cant plan a lot against an opposition whom a team plays once or twice a year while one has to expect the unexpectedThe last meeting India played Pakistan they didnt have any idea how much Shaheen Shah Afridi had improved The result was a 10wicket defeatThree seniors and a battle aheadA lot was said after Afridis twoover opening spell send jitters in the Indian camp during the last T20 World Cup opener and Indias erstwhile team management did cop a lot of flak for their archaic batting approach in shortest format of the gameQuestions were raised whether the sameness in the toporder with three righthanders make it easy for a good leftarm paceman to set the alarm bells ringingHowever on Sunday there will be no Afridi due to knee injury to bend it back into the top three India righthanders but the fact remains that despite all the experimentations done by coach Rahul Dravid the toporder remains exactly the same after that debacle in DubaiRishabh PantRohit pair showed a lot of promise with their gungho approach and Suryakumar Yadav at the top looked menacing with his allround strokesDeepak Hooda although against Ireland was audacious as an opener but with Kohli and KL Rahul available it will be experience that will get first preference going into a highprofile gameAlso See InPics Virat Kohli Baba Azam and others gear up for the epic Asia Cup clash between India and PakistanIn the new setup KL Rahul is coming back up after a surgery and Covid19 related layoff He hasnt played a single international T20 game in 2022In case of Kohli the number stands at four with a halfcentury against a subpar West Indies attackRohit in the interim has played some attractive little knocks but more importantly has tweaked his batting philosophy as per the needs of the teamWill Kohli and Rahul be able to do the same That remains a big question moving forwardIts great to see the new approach of Indian team started after the last World Cup following the words of captain by everyone we are hoping to continue this vicecaptain Rahul said on Friday during a media interactionA lot however will depend on how the trio of Suryakumar Pant and Hardik Pandya perform between overs 10 and 20 The trio with their explosive strength can perhaps take the Afridiless Pakistan attack to cleaners with designated finisher Dinesh Karthik likely to sit outBabar Azam and his menBabar Azam is very different from some of the Pakistani greats who have led the national team over the yearsA player who is as much about method as he is about talent Babar has brought a calmness that has worked more often than not in past couple of years since he took chargeAlong with Mohammed Rizwan he forms a formidable combination at the top but what their respective strikerate is less than 130It worked wonders when they chased a modest total in Dubai last year but will it work when they bat firstWhile Fakhar Zaman at No 3 also lends solidity the rest of the batters havent shown enough consistency The likes of flamboyant Asif Ali Khushdil Shah Haider Ali are good players but have little to show at the international level in terms of regular runsWill Bumrahless India go for extra spinnerIf missing Afridi is a big setback for Pakistan not having Jasprit Bumrah is no less a blow for IndiaIn his absence back injury and with dependable T20 bowler Harshal Patel ribcage injury also missing out Bhuvneshwar Kumar will have a young death overs specialist Arshdeep Singh for companyThe match will test Arshdeeps skills but more so his temperament in trying circumstancesRavindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandyas presence does add to the balance but the bone of contention will be if Rohit and interim head coach VVS Laxman opt for extra spinner Ravichandran Ashwin or Ravi Bishnoi at the expense of tearaway quick Avesh Khan who could be profligate and deadly at the same timeThis promises to be a better contest than the last oneTeamsIndia Rohit Sharma c KL Rahul Virat Kohli Suryakumar Yadav Rishabh Pant Deepak Hooda Dinesh Karthik Hardik Pandya Ravindra Jadeja R Ashwin Yuzvendra Chahal Ravi Bishnoi Bhuvneshwar Kumar Arshdeep Singh Avesh KhanPakistan 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 AliStart 730 pm ISTThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever