India, Pakistan face off again with eyes on final

Every India-Pakistan match starts from scratch. History or statistics don't matter. These are the lines generally fed to us. It isn't remotely anything like that though. KL Rahul knows Pakistan will be working on his off-stump again. In the back of his mind, Virat Kohli too knows he isn't as fluent at the start as he would like to be. And Ravindra Jadeja going out of the tournament—and the World Cup as well due to a knee injury—might warrant a rejig of the line-up.

Does Axar Patel get in straight away? Or does Rishabh Pant get in? Dinesh Karthik is yet to get a decent turn with the bat so barring Hardik Pandya, the lower middle-order still doesn't look settled.

Whichever way you look at it, not all of India's problems have been sorted despite having won their first two games, starting with Pakistan. Their bowling is better off though. Not having Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel doesn't seem to have set the team back. With Yuzvendra Chahal impressing and Pandya proving to be a great tactical foil in the middle overs, India look in better control in the department even though Avesh Khan could be unavailable. "Avesh Khan is a little unwell and hopefully, we will get him for the later matches of the tournament," head coach Rahul Dravid said on Saturday.

Since matchups are again set to play a pivotal part in Sunday's game, India could go into the game slightly concerned about the top-three that hasn't really set the stage on fire. The run rate could be a concern as well given that India tend to leave the big-hitting until the slog overs.

Pakistan too came into the Asia Cup with a top-order problem, of batters trying to anchor the innings instead of forcing the pace. Babar Azam was sedate, so was Mohammad Rizwan. Both were instrumental in the 10-wicket drubbing of India in the T20 World Cup last year. As of now though, Pakistan know Rizwan has come out of his shell, courtesy of a 57-ball 78 in the 155-run win against Hong Kong. Its validation though will come against India. Rizwan knows staying "brave and calm" are the only ways of approaching an India-Pakistan match.

"Playing India is always a pressure game. The whole world, even beyond Asia, waits for it," he told reporters on Friday. "The pressure will be equal on India and us, but the result will be with whoever remains brave and keeps calm," he said. "I tell players, whether you play India or Hong Kong, it's a game of bat and ball. So keep it simple. Yes, it's a big game and our confidence is high but only hard work is in our hands, as the result is from God."

Azam is almost in his home stretch so Rizwan is still not worried about his scores of 10 and nine. Finding form, according to Rizwan, is a matter of time for the Pakistan captain. "Babar is a superstar and is world No 1. He knows how to go about it and it has been just two innings and we sometimes keep saying that he doesn't get an evil eye. He has scored a lot of runs for us in the past and this has been just two games," Rizwan said.

Shahnawaz Dahani will miss the game because of a suspected side strain picked up during the Hong Kong game. But with slow bowlers Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz working up solid form so far, Pakistan don't look a side too worried about their bowling.

Going by form, a third India-Pakistan game (the final) isn't unlikely but neither side would want to get ahead of themselves. "We have to play good cricket and make the final," said Rizwan."Our fans demand that we give our best and it is visible this time that the boys are giving it their all."