How will India win if Pandya doesn’t play?:Men in Blue’s potential strategy against Pakistan today; Injury concerns might trouble SKY

Captain sir, I have experience with them. If Pakistanis lose, they come back once more. If you win, don’t be careless. Remember my words. In Farhan Akhtar’s 2004 film Lakshya, Subedar Major Pritam Singh (Om Puri) gave this advice to his captain Karan Singh Shergill (Hrithik Roshan) during the Kargil War. Although no war is being fought between India and Pakistan right now, a clash echoing the same sentiment is set to take place today. And more than ever, Major Pritam Singh’s advice could also be useful for Team India’s captain, Suryakumar Yadav today. How well the Pakistan team has bounced back from two losses against India in group stage and Super-4 stage, and coming to face Men in Blue for the third time in Asia Cup tournament for the title clash. This time, the Pakistanis are not just coming back once, but for the second time. Men in Green have evolved themselves throughout the tournament, improving their powerplay hitting and bowling adaptability. Against a team that has made a comeback despite various setbacks in the continental tournament, how will India strategise its final showdown? How can the pitch and weather affect the game? What should the respective captains choose if they win the toss, and finally, which players will be the game-changers? We have answered all of these questions in the story ahead. So let’s move ahead with it… Pakistan edges final record while India dominate other fixtures Here is a breakdown of the head-to-head record between India and Pakistan that they have played so far in four-pointers: How have IND-PAK performed in final faceoffs? India and Pakistan have faced each other 12 times in the finals of a total of 10 tournaments before the present Asia Cup final. Pakistan won 8 times, and the Indian team was successful 4 times. Here is a detailed look at the result of the final showdown between arch-rivals in the past. Also Read: Will India, Pakistan produce a one-sided final?: Only 2 last-ball thrillers in 15 finals India boast 60% win record in the Asia Cup There has never been an India-Pakistan final match in the Asia Cup before. Apart from the final, the two teams have played against each other 20 times in this tournament so far. India have clinched win in 12 games, i.e., 60% of the matches. Meanwhile, Pakistan has only won 6 games (30%). Meanwhile, 2 matches (10%) ended with no result. India stands unbeatable in T20I format Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav had said after the Super-4 match against Pakistan, “If two teams play 15-20 matches and if [head-to-head] it is 7-7 or 8-7, then that is called a rivalry. But 13-0, 10-1….I don’t know what the stats are. But this is not a rivalry anymore.” Surya had made this statement in the context of T20I cricket. The record in this format is indeed completely in India’s favour. Men in Blue have won 12 out of 15 matches while Pakistan has only won three matchups. The unpredictability of the Dubai stadium pitch 20 T20I matches have been played between the world’s top-8 teams since 2018 in Dubai International Stadium. Out of these, the team chasing has won 15 times. The captains’ thinking was clear: win the toss, choose bowling, and win the match. However, in two out of the last three matches, the team batting first succeeded in winning the contest, and one match was a tie. In the final, captains will be confused whether to choose batting or bowling after winning the toss. So, first, we need to check how pitch behaves. The pitch will play a big role this time too, and the captain’s decision to bat or field first could also be a deciding factor. India to enter with a different squad due to injury concerns? Except for the matches against Oman and Sri Lanka, the Indian team has fielded the same playing XI in this tournament. India has been playing with three specialist spinners, 1 specialist fast bowler, and 2 pace-bowling all-rounders. However, India might be forced to make changes in this match due to injury. Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya were not reported to be 100% fit until a day before the match. If Tilak doesn’t play, Rinku Singh will take his place. Pandya has no like-for-like replacement. This means no player in the team who can exactly match Hardik’s skill set. If Pandya is out, India might give an opportunity to either Harshit Rana or Arshdeep Singh in his place. However, the decision regarding their playing or not playing will be taken on the match day itself. BCCI sources have stated that there is a high probability that Axar and Pandya will play. Even if they are 90% fit, they will be part of India’s playing-11. India’s probable playing-11 Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy and Jasprit Bumrah. What role can underwhelming Saim Ayub play for PAK? Changes in Pakistan’s playing-11 are also less likely. However, there is definitely a lot of deliberation in the team regarding Saim Ayub. He came into the tournament as an opener and was out for zero three times consecutively. After this, he was moved down in the batting order. Despite this, he has not been successful with the bat. In the last match against Bangladesh, Saim was again dismissed for duck. Pakistan’s probable playing-11 Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (Captain), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Faheem Ashraf and Haris Rauf. India will go with an all-out attack mindset in batting The Indian team might adopt the same strategy in this match that it has been implementing for the past one year. The strategy is an all-out attack in batting. Attack from the first ball. Even in the middle overs, Indian batsmen will constantly be looking for boundaries. Team India might have to reconsider its bowling strategy. Jasprit Bumrah is made to bowl three consecutive overs right at the start. In the last match against Pakistan, Bumrah conceded 45 runs in 4 overs. Bumrah hasn’t been able to take many wickets with the new ball either. Pakistan will try to attack in the middle overs The Pakistan team often comes under fire from fans and experts due to its slow batting. Sending Fakhar Zaman to open has improved Pakistan’s position in the power-play, but the team still struggles in the middle overs. The Pakistani think tank will want to change this situation. It is possible that Pakistani batsmen might be seen playing aggressively even in the middle overs in this match. In bowling, Pakistan’s strategy is to take as many wickets as possible in the power play. The team will follow this strategy this time as well.