India and Pakistan are all set to clash for the second time in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022, as the arch-rivals will take on each other in the second match of the Super-4 stage of the tournament in Dubai on Sunday (September 4).
In their previous meeting, last Sunday, India had beaten Pakistan by 5 wickets at the same venue thanks to the all-round heroics of Hardik Pandya who took 3/25 and scored 33* in 17 balls.
Ahead of the high-profile clash, it was the turn of Indian head coach Rahul Dravid to address the media in a press conference. Dravid said his team is looking at the game as any other, “For us, it is only a match like others. If we win then it is very good if we lose then we will play against Sri Lanka.
“We have a lot of quality players. Pakistan are in good form but we need games like these to improve ourselves. You are able to judge the players and even I can get a lot of answers to the questions I have,” he added.
Dravid was then asked about the Pakistan pace attack, which despite the absence of Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Wasim, has looked extremely sharp and threatening with young Naseem Shah emerging as a new weapon.
At the same time, India are also missing Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel, but the backups in Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan have so far not been as impressive as their counterparts.
Experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya have been a class apart but would love bit more support. There is no doubt India is lagging in terms of pace, but Dravid feels his side can make up with other variations.
He stated, “Of course, they (Pakistan) are a very good bowling side, but we too did well to restrict them to 147. You are judged by the results you produce,”
“I would say in numbers they would have hit 145kph, 147kph, we may have been in the 135-125kph mark, swing and or no swing but the bowling performance of our fast bowlers was also pretty good.
“I’m confident that we have a good bowling attack as well that produces results, it might not be as…” Dravid stopped, refraining himself from using a word.
“I wanted to use a word but I can’t use that word (here). It’s coming out of mind but I can’t use it here. It’s a four letter that starts with s, but it’s okay.” he said, leaving everyone in splits.
WATCH HERE:
(WITH PTI INPUTS)
