Malik outlines winning formula for Pakistan against India
Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik has outlined two ways through which the Pakistan side can overcome India in their Asia Cup Group A match today in Abu Dhabi, and both involve their bowlers neutralising the opposition's batting threat.
India come into the tournament with a heavyweight batting unit, with four of its batters having a career strike rate of more than 150.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Malik, while speaking on a local sports platform, said that Pakistan's best bet to win the match would be to get early wickets.
"The toss is an obvious thing -- it's not in anyone's hands, not even Pakistan's. But Pakistan's best possible chance is if they can get three to four of India's top batters out quickly and restrict them to very few runs," Malik said.
"That way, the game can be played in such a way that their total comes down to around 160–150. In my opinion, that's one of the situations where Pakistan can beat India," he added.
If the Pakistan pace attack led by Shaheen Afridi fails to get early strikes, Malik said that their wrist spinners would have to do the trick in the middle phase.
"The second scenario is in the middle overs, where your spinners -- Sufiyan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed -- pick up three wickets each. That could also create a real chance, if both of them play. Because whether India bats first or second, if their batters don't get out, you are never in the game," he said.
Both India and Pakistan have won their opening encounters in the tournament, with the former crushing the UAE by nine wickets and the latter completing a dominating 93-run win over debutants Oman.
The last time India and Pakistan faced off in the T20 iteration of the Asia Cup, Pakistan won by 10 wickets in 2022.
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