India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2023: Rohit vs Shaheen, Babar vs Kuldeep and more — top player battles and stats

There’s nothing bigger than India vs Pakistan in cricket and the next edition of the storied rivalry will take place on 2 September in the Asia Cup 2023 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

As usual, the cricket encounter between the arch-rivals is expected to be another high-pressure game where even the smallest of mistakes could lead to game-changing moments.

IND vs PAK: We will use experience against Pakistan pacers — Rohit

The players from both sides would be looking to give their best in the high-octane clash and here we take a statistical look at the player battles which could decide the outcome of the game on Saturday.

Rohit Sharma vs Shaheen Shah Afridi

We witnessed Rohit Sharma batting against left-arm pacer Aniket Chaudhary at Team India’s camp in Alur ahead of the Asia Cup as the India skipper looked to prepare for Shaheen Afridi threat.

Rohit has faced Afridi once in ODIs in the 2018 Asia Cup, where he scored 18 off 19 against the pacer without losing his wicket. His T20I record against the left-arm Pakistan swing bowler however is less than ordinary. In two innings, Afridi has dismissed the Indian captain once while giving away just four runs in six balls.

Rohit is never comfortable against left-arm fast bowlers and also had issues against Mohammad Amir. If Pakistan get his wicket early, it will be a big moral victory in the match for the Men in Green.

Virat Kohli vs Harid Rauf

One can never forget Kohli’s outrageous six down the ground against Rauf in the T20 World Cup 2022 game that proved to be the game changer in India’s favour that day. The battle between them is going to be crucial again.

Rauf so far hasn’t bowled to Kohli in the ODIs.

The good thing also is that the No 3 batter Kohli has dominated this battle in T20Is with 42 runs against Rauf in four innings at a strike rate of 131.25.

Babar Azam vs Kuldeep Yadav

Rohit and Kohli are world class players, but currently, Babar Azam is in top form in ODIs with 689 runs in 12 matches in 2023 so far at an average of 57.41 and with two tons. His batting has helped Pakistan reach the No 1 ranking in the ODIs.

But Babar Azam has a weakness against Kuldeep Yadav, having got out to the Indian left-arm wrist-spinner twice in three innings.

Babar has also only managed 18 runs in 34 balls against Kuldeep and Rohit will be looking to use the spinner wisely against the Pakistan skipper.

Jasprit Bumrah vs Fakhar Zaman

We all remember how Burmah got Fakhar out in the 2017 Champions Trophy final but the batter survived due to a no ball and later went on to make a match-winning century.

The opener will be looking to repeat his heroics on Saturday but Bumrah will be keen to take his revenge.

Fakhar has an average record against Bumrah in ODIs with 25 runs in 45 balls in four innings. But Bumrah has never managed to get Fakhar out so far in ODIs.

Hardik Pandya vs Shadab Khan

In the middle overs, the battle will be between Hardik Pandya and leg-spinner Shadab Khan. The Indian all-rounder leads this battle with 46 runs off 22 balls at a strike rate of 209.09 without ever getting out to the Pakistan tweaker.

Pandya will be hoping for another productive outing against Shadab on Saturday