India face Pakistan in high-octane Asia Cup clash today

MIRPUR: World cricket’s most intriguing rivalry will once again be renewed when India take on an unpredictable Pakistan with rehabilitated pacer Mohammed Amir being the focus of attention in a round-robin league encounter of the Asia Cup T20 tournament here on Saturday. The match will also serve as a pre-cursor to the two teams’ opening round battle in the ICC World Twenty20, next month. The Indo-Pak cricket contests over the years have carried a legacy, not to forget the political undercurrents involved whenever the two bitter neighbours square off on the 22 yards. But the most exciting aspect will be whether the tainted Amir gets to play in the XI. Back after serving a fiveyear ban for spot-fixing, Amir has started playing for the national team since the tour of New Zealand and this immensely talented bowler will certainly come out all guns blazing against the Indian batsmen. Virat Kohli has already welcomed Amir’s return but not much is known as to what other Indian players, including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, think about the convicted spotfixer’s inclusion. In India, the BCCI has taken a zero tolerance approach imposing life bans on players like S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan, Ajit Chandila, who have no hopes of returning to competitive cricket. For Amir though, a good performance against India will probably help him gain some credibility not only in the dressing room but also among the common cricketloving public in Pakistan. In terms of preparation, both teams have been suitably prepared considering the amount of Twenty20 cricket they have played in the past one month. India already kicked off their World T20 preparations in style, having won six out of the seven games played so far. Pakistan cricketers, on the other hand, are coming straight after playing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which keeps them well prepared. Traditionally, India have never ever lost to Pakistan in the global events but it has not been the case in the continental event where Shahid Afridi and co have performed well. Coming to the captains, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s dependability is any day more than his counterpart Shahid Afridi, who has time and again shown “natural ability” to commit hara-kiri at crucial junctures. SQUADS INDIA: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harbhajan Singh PAKISTAN: Shahid Afridi (captain), Mohammed Hafeez, Sharjeel Khan, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Khurram Manzoor, Mohammed Nawaz, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammed Aamir, Mohamed Irfan, Mohammed Sami, Wahab Riaz, Anar Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imaad Wasim, Mohammed Amir. Match starts at 7pm (IST). Bangladesh thrash UAE by 51 Meanwhile, Mahmudullah Riyadh produced an all-round effort to guide hosts to a 51-run win against United Arab Emirates in the Asia Cup T20 tournament on Friday. Batting first, Bangladesh managed only 133 for eight largely due to rearguard action from Man-ofthe-Match Mahmudullah, who scored a quickfire 36 off 27 balls with the help of a boundary and two sixes. However UAE’s batting faltered once again as they produced a below-par effort to get bowled out for 82 in only 17.4 overs. Mahmudullah took 2/5 along with a brilliant catch to make it a memorable outing for him.(PTI)