India will begin their Asia Cup 2023 campaign against arch-rival Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele on Saturday. Both teams don’t face each other usually, but whenever they do, sentiments run wild, stadium tickets are sold out, and the contests are often loaded with controversies.
Indian team is kicking off their campaign with a full-strength Playing XI and just concluded a practice camp in Bengaluru head coach Rahul Dravid looks confident with his team, with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Shreyas Iyer returning.
Asia Cup 2023 will be a preparatory event for the forthcoming ODI World Cup 2023, which will be held in India this year. Despite boasting a strong side, India’s absence of ODIs could prove to be a determining aspect in their Asia Cup opener.
On the other hand, Babar-led Pakistan XI has already kicked off their tournament by defeating Nepal by 238 runs in the Asia Cup opener on Wednesday, in Multan. Pakistan bowled out Nepal for 104 in 23.4 overs, with defending 343 runs as Shadab Khan got a four-wicket haul, and Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi bagged two wickets each.
According to Google Weather, rain could act as a spoilsport in the India-Pakistan clash. But the good news is that the prediction commutes from 95 percent to 60 percent during the competition. Temperature is expected to be about 25 degrees Celsius, with 92 percent humidity in the opening stages of the contest. There could also be 68 percent rain an hour before the game, so we could see a wet outfield.
