India and Pakistan to clash in Sri Lanka on September 2nd in Asia Cup 2023.
India is most likely to clash with Pakistan atleast twice in this Asia Cup 2023 and then will face off in the World Cup 2023 in Ahmedabad on October 14. This means Pakistan will play their first match in India since the 2016 T20 World Cup tournament.
Ahead of the Asia Cup 2023 encounter, opener Imam Ul Haq fired the first salvo by highlighting Pakistan's potential in the World Cup and saying that opposition teams have a sense of "fear" when it comes to Pakistan, particularly in the One Day International (ODI) format.
“I try to live in the present. I'm not thinking about that (World Cup) right now. Yes, in the back of my mind, I'm preparing for the World Cup. I know that people are well and truly scared of our one-day team because we have achieved some great wins. We have a pattern that we follow. I believe our one-day team is particularly good,” Imam told YouTuber Daniyal Sheikh in a podcast.
Pakistan boasts of amazing batters like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Fakhar Zaman and has probably the best fast bowling unit in the Asia Cup which includes Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf.
“Our strength is our fast bowling and batting. I've played 60 games, Fakhar played 70, Babar played 100-odd games. Naseem, Shaheen, Haris, and Wasim Jr are there. Then we have Shadab and Nawaz, and Osama Mir has also come. Iftikhar Ahmed and Salman Ali Agha are there, and Rizzi (Rizwan) is there.
I'm not saying that this is a team good because I'm a part of it. I would say this is a balanced team even if I wasn't playing for them. But I believe there cannot be a better team than this. The players are confident, they know their roles. That's why I'm emphasizing that the ODI team is better than the T20I team,” Imam further stressed.
The Pakistani bowling showed their might in the recent first ODI against Afghanistan when they bowled out the opponents for just 59 runs while defending a total of 201 runs with Rauf taking 5/18.