A high-octane clash between the arch-nemesis India and Pakistan is slated to be played on August 28 at the upcoming Asia Cup. The hype has already started brewing for the highly anticipated game of cricket.
Heading into the 'Mother of all clashes' India skipper Rohit Sharma has made it clear with his statement that although the contest will be a high-pressure game but doused all the inside hype by saying Pakistan are just another opposition for India.
"Obviously, it is a very exciting game. Everyone watches the game, especially India-Pakistan. It is a high-pressure game without a doubt, I think within the group, we want to create quite a normal atmosphere. We do not want to hype this game too much within ourselves. Let people outside hype the game, that's their job to do it but for us, it is just a game of cricket and a battle between bat and ball which we have to dominate," Rohit said on Star Sports' show 'Follow The Blues'.
"I think the guys who have not played against them or have played 1-2 games against them, for them also, for us, me and Rahul bhai, it is important for us to talk to these guys and letting them know it is just another opposition we will be playing. For us, it will be like any other India-Pakistan game we play, we have to focus on the game and what we need to do as individuals," he added.
Last time the neighbouring nation locked horns was in T20 World Cup 2021, where Babar Azam-led side thrashed India by 10 wickets.
India vs Pakistan's head-to-head in Asia Cup
Since the inception of the tournament in 1984, India and Pakistan have played against each other on 14 occasions in the Asia Cup.
India has won eight while arch-rivals Pakistan have secured five victories. India has registered seven victories out of the 13 matches against Pakistan in the ODI format in the Asia Cup.
MS Dhoni led India to a five-wicket victory against Pakistan in the teams’ only T20I meeting in the Asia Cup at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Bangladesh in 2016.
India vs Pakistan's overall performance in Asia Cup
Seven-time champions India have won 36 of the 54 matches in their Asia Cup history. They lost 16 games, while one match was tied and another ended with no result.
India has a win percentage of 66.67 in the Asia Cup.
On the other hand, Pakistan has won 28 of the 49 matches that they have played in the marquee Asian cricket tournament. They have lost 20 matches while one match ended with no result. They currently have a win percentage of 57.14 in the Asia Cup.
India's Asia Cup squad: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.
Standby: Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar.
Pakistan's Asia Cup squad: Babar Azam (C), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir.
