Pakistan have performed brilliantly in the ongoing Asia Cup so far. In the group stage, the Men in Green registered a crushing 238-run victory over Nepal while their marquee encounter against India was abandoned due to rain.
In the first game of the Super-4 round, the Babar Azam-led side thrashed Bangladesh by seven wickets to go one step closer towards the final.
The main reason behind Pakistan’s success in the continental event has been the performances of their fast bowlers. The likes of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf have troubled all the opposition batters they have faced so far.
While Rauf is the leading wicket-taker in the competition so far with nine scalps to his name, Shaheen and Naseem have claimed seven wickets each.
As Pakistan are gearing up to face India again in the Super-4 around on September 10, the pace troika is expected to do well. All 10 Indian wickets were taken by Afridi, Rauf and Naseem in the group stage fixture that ended in a no-result due to incessant drizzle in the second innings.
Such was the dominance of Pakistani pacers that "they can't play him" started trending on social media, referring to Nasser Hussain’s commentary during Shaheen’s terrific spell against India in the T20 World Cup 2021.
Former Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif and ex-pacer Wahab Riaz used the phrase on their respective X (formerly Twitter) accounts.
However, Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan came up with a classy response when asked about that phrase.
"Our fast bowlers have played a crucial role in taking us to the No.1 spot. And the three fast bowlers we are talking about, they are not just going to pose difficulty for the Indian top-order but for every team. They are gifted bowlers. And if you look at our bench strength, that is also very good and that is why we have risen to the top," Rizwan told a group of journalists on the eve of the India-Pakistan Super-4 match.
"Their batters also haven't faced our bowlers a lot. They lost early wickets but they put close to 270 on the board. Similarly, we will also have plans when their bowlers will come up against us. India have a good bowling attack, some of the world's best who will obviously challenge us. But as professionals, we should be ready with the answers," he added.
Talking about the expectations of the fans for the match against India, Rizwan said: "Pakistanis want us to win and Indians want us to lose. This is natural. This is just the love for the respective countries. As far as we are concerned, we have put in a lot of hard work for the last couple of years. The result is showing now. We will give our best on Sunday."
