India, the ruling 20-overs world champs, are firm favourites to maintain their Asia Cup title and are figured out not to let geopolitics thwart their
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An India-Pakistan cricket match is constantly a hit however feelings will run even greater in Sunday’s Asia Cup clash in between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who took part in a four-day military dispute previously this year.
Even before the clashes in May, which almost intensified into a full-blown war, bilateral cricket ties had actually been suspended. The arch-rivals now play each other just in multi-team competitions.
Political relations have actually weakened even more because the clashes, with numerous previous Indian gamers prompting the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to boycott what will be the very first conference in between the groups because the current hostilities.
While the risk of a boycott is over, stimulates might fly with India captain Suryakumar Yadav and his Pakistan equivalent Salman Agha dismissing calling down aggressiveness in the much-anticipated Group A component.
India, the ruling 20-overs world champs, are firm favourites to keep their Asia Cup title and are identified not to let geopolitics hinder their project.
“Once the BCCI said they are aligned with the government, we are here to play,” India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak informed press reporters on Friday.
“Once we are here to play, I think players are focused on playing cricket. I personally don’t think they have anything in mind apart from playing cricket and that’s what we focus on.”
Pakistan coach Mike Hesson likewise desires his group to remain concentrated though the significance of the match is not lost on him.
“Being part of a highly-charged event is going to be exciting,” the New Zealander stated today.
“From my perspective… it is about keeping everybody focused on the job at hand. That will be no different.
“We understand India are certainly extremely positive and truly so. We are really much focused on enhancing as a group day-by-day and not getting ahead of ourselves.”
India appear by far the strongest side in the eight-team tournament, having reinforced themselves with the selection of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and top order batter Shubman Gill.
They were ruthless in their nine-wicket demolition of the United Arab Emirates, whom they routed for 57 in 13.1 overs before returning to chase down the target in 27 balls on Thursday.
Pakistan also opened their account with an easy victory against Oman but their batting has been rather inconsistent.
Pakistan are without former skippers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan but will take heart from winning a T20 tri-series in UAE, also involving Afghanistan, before heading into the Asia Cup.
“We have actually been playing excellent cricket in the last two-three months and we simply need to play great cricket,” Pakistan captain Salman said on Friday.
“If we can perform our prepare for a long sufficient duration, we suffice to beat any group.”
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Published on September 13, 2025
