Asia Cup 2022: The mercury is already rising in the cricketing fabric with two of cricket’s biggest forces all set to lock horns at the Dubai International Stadium. India will be colliding with Pakistan in the teams’ respective tournament opener and both would be hoping to pile up significant numbers towards a meaningful conclusion.
Just ahead of the big game, Wasim Jaffer was the latest addition to a long list of pundits predicting their playing XI for the upcoming swashbuckler while he made a crucial point about who should be India’s wicket-keeper in a battle of two significant names featuring Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik.
My India XI vs Pakistan:
Advertisement1. Rohit
2. KL
3. Virat
4. Sky
5. Hardik
6. DK / Pant*
7. Jadeja
8. Bhuvi
9. Bishnoi
10. Chahal
11. Arshdeep*If Pant plays, he should bat at no.5.
What's yours?#INDvPAK #AsiaCup
Advertisement— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) August 27, 2022
Here is the playing XI picked by Wasim Jaffer for Indo-Pakistan clash ahead of Asia Cup 2022
For openers, Jaffer was pro-Rohit and Rahul with the duo being India’s best bet while the former Indian Test opener believes that Virat Kohli continues to be India’s best wager at number three. According to Jaffer
If Dinesh Karthik is on the side as the keeper, then Hardik Pandya should occupy the number five position with DK following suit. If Pant is in the team, then it should be Pant at number five with Pandya up next.
Ravindra Jadeja would undoubtedly be his best pick for an all-rounder alongside Hardik Pandya before the bowlers come into the scene. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s late mojo has won over the love of almost everyone on the side and Jaffer is no exception to the same.
In an interesting move, he would want the spinning duo of Bishnoi and Chahal in the side that can make things tricky for the Men in Green on a surface where the ball turns significantly. For Bhuvi’s fast bowling partner, he sided with Arshdeep Singh who has shown decent form in the last few series that he has been a part of.
