COLOMBO: The Indian Team has started to prepare for their second match with Pakistan in the Asia Cup in the Super Four stage which will be played on Sunday in Colombo.
India had an intense practice session ahead of their clash with arch-rival Pakistan on Thursday.
KL Rahul who had missed the first match against Pakistan in the Asia Cup after he picked up a niggle, also joined the nets. He practised for both left-arm pacers and right-arm pacers, keeping in mind the quality bowling attack of the Pakistan side. He spent the longest time in the nets to be fully prepared for his comeback match.
Shubman Gill also faced a few balls in the nets with right-armers. He was mainly focusing on playing swing balls.
Indian head coach Rahul Dravid who earlier expressed the need for India to bat a little deeper, threw balls at Shardul Thakur to prepare him to bat in the end overs to bring depth to the batting order. Dravid was also seen having a chit-chat with Shardul about his batting during the nets session.
Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma took rest from the optional practice session.
The group stage match between India and Pakistan was called off due to rain, with both teams sharing one point each. In the match, the Indian batting team struggled in front of Pakistan’s pace attack, especially Shaheen Afridi who had taken four wickets in the match.
India were bundled out at 266 in 48.5 overs with Hardik Pandya’s 87 and Ishan Kishan’s 82 helping the team post a decent target.
However, rain played spoilsport and the match was called off without Pakistan facing a single ball.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has asserted that the Pakistan team will give their 100 per cent in this highly-anticipated clash against India in the Asia Cup Super Four.
Pakistan kicked off the Super Four with a dominant 7-wicket victory against Bangladesh on Wednesday in the Gaddafi Stadium.
The ‘Men in Green’ will be eager to keep their unbeaten run alive against their arch-rival as the Asia Cup heads towards a two-day break.”This win will give us confidence, we are always ready for a big match. We will give our 100% in the next match,” Babar said in the post-match presentation after winning against Bangladesh on Wednesday. (ANI)
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