Asia Cup 2018: Expect tight cricket in the tournament, says Manjrekar

MS Dhoni greets Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik during a training session in Dubai recently. Pic/PTI

While Team India are not expected to break much sweat when they take on minnows Hong Kong today in their Asia Cup opening match at Dubai, all eyes will be on the much-anticipated clash against arch-rivals Pakistan on Wednesday. Going by the trend in the last few years, India have largely dominated Pakistan. This time around though, the contest is most likely to be a closely-fought one, felt former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar.

India-Pakistan contests are mostly witnessed only in ICC World Cups [50 overs, T20] and in the Asia Cup due to the political tension between the two nations. India thumped Pakistan by eight wickets when they clashed in the 2013 Champions Trophy at Edgbaston. In the 2015 World Cup, India won by 76 runs at the Adelaide Oval. Pakistan suffered another crushing defeat in the 2017 Champions Trophy where they lost by 124 runs in the group stage. However, in the same tournament, Pakistan avenged their loss with a thumping 180-run victory in the final. There has only been one recent close contest.

Sanjay Manjrekar

Pakistan edged past India by one wicket in a 2014 Asia Cup match at Mirpur, Bangladesh. "In the last few years, the hype was always more than the evenness of the contest. India were always the stronger side. In the 1990s, Pakistan was stronger, but post 2000, India have always been the stronger team. Even in the 2017 Champions Trophy final where India were beaten, it was just a one-off performance. But this time, I expect more tightness in the contest than it has ever been.

"I expect it to be quite close because Pakistan have been playing some good cricket," Manjrekar told mid-day yesterday. Manjrekar believes Pakistan will give India a tough fight because of their familiarity with conditions in the UAE. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are Pakistan's adopted venues for international cricket since the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team.

"They [Pakistan] have got some batsmen who are in excellent form and they have the bowling for those kind of pitches - fast bowlers like Mohammad Amir, Usman Khan, Hasan Ali. They have good spinners as well, so they have all bases covered. I find Hasan Ali quite an incredible bowler. He is a talent to watch out for," Manjrekar said.

The absence of Virat Kohli for the Asia Cup could prove tricky for the Indian team. "He is a big player. In recent times, India have come to depend on him heavily. So, obviously, India are not the strongest when Virat isn't there. But it's an opportunity [for others] try some young players or few options to especially see the middle order issue," Manjrekar signed off.

Seven
No. of ODIs India have won against Pakistan since 2010. They lost four

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