Asia Cup 2023: 'Pressure match, world watching' — Rizwan on what makes India-Pakistan rivalry exciting

The 16th edition of the Asia Cup will start on 30 August. India will take on Pakistan on Sunday, 2 August and as is the norm, there is a lot of excitement around this match. If both sides make it through to the Super Fours stage, they will meet once again on 10 September. Ahead of the highly-anticipated clash between India and Pakistan, Mohammad Rizwan, one of the key players for Babar Azam’s side, has spoken about the importance of handling pressure by players in such crucial matches.

“India are also a good team, we are also a good team. India have their strengths and weaknesses, and we have too. It is a pressure match with the world watching it,” Rizwan told Star Sports.

As per Rizwan, one of the key differences between a star player and a regular player is experience and how the person reacts when pressure is applied. “Whoever handles pressure will win the match,” Rizwan further added.

Rizwan has been one of the most consistent players for Pakistan and emerged as the leading run scorer in the last edition of the Asia Cup. Pakistan made it to the final but were upstaged by Sri Lanka.

Pakistan will come into Asia Cup 2023 as the number 1 ranked side in ODI cricket. Babar Azam and Co got to the top position after they beat Afghanistan 3-0 in the recently concluded ODI series.

The last time India and Pakistan clashed in ODIs was back in the 2019 World Cup. India dominated that match on the back of Rohit Sharma’s excellent 140 runs from 113 balls. Virat Kohli, too, chipped in with a fine half-century as India piled up 336 runs. In response, Pakistan faltered and went down by 89 runs (D/L method). However, the current Pakistan unit have been faring way better against India and the upcoming match is expected to be a cracking one.

India and Pakistan will also lock horns in the ICC Cricket World Cup later this year in Ahmedabad and both sides would want to draw first blood in Asia Cup.