Asia Cup 2023: Key players and factors in 1st India-Pakistan ODI face-off in 4 years

Right-handed batsman and Indian captain Rohit Sharma. India come well-prepared into a tournament they have won seven times previously, with a purposeful camp in Bengaluru. (File)

A festive air draped the beautiful town of Kandy for the last ten days, though it had little to do with cricket’s Asia Cup, now in its 16th edition. The annual Esala Perahera pageant, also known as the Festival of the Tooth, attracted tourists by the thousands, with hotels running to full capacity and the streets lined by young and old alike. The curtain came down on the pageant on Thursday, and by evening, the excitement had shifted to Pallekele, a little over 10 kilometres away. At the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Sri Lanka kickstarted their campaign to retain the title and made a roaring start with a five-wicket defeat of Bangladesh, earning the early bragging rights in a rivalry that has the trappings of a classic.

Thursday’s showdown, let it be said, was just the appetizer before Saturday’s main course that will pit the protagonists of a rivalry that is firmly entrenched in the ‘classic’ category against each other. India and Pakistan don’t play each other as often as their fans, as well as the other stakeholders, are concerned, so their first ODI contest in more than four years has triggered greater attention than normal, if that is possible.

Since January 2013, all their matches in both white-ball formats have been restricted to continental and world tournaments, therefore it should come as no surprise that Saturday’s fixture will be their first 50-over head-to-head since the 2019 World Cup clash in Manchester. If that doesn’t already lend massive context to the game, then there is also the small matter of hitting the final stages of preparation for the World Cup starting in five weeks.

Cricketing relations between India and Pakistan have mirrored the political climate. At times, the high-profile sport has been used as a diplomatic tool, and at others, it has been hijacked for the wrong reasons. The status quo since 2013 isn’t ideal, but people from both sides of the border have come to accept the situation for what it is, and therefore to celebrate and partake of the entertainment whenever it comes their way.

Asia Cup India vs Pakistan venue

Pallekele is a smallish hamlet overhanging Kandy and offers a reasonably unlikely backdrop for a match of such humongous proportions, but it isn’t so much of an outpost that it will keep the fans out. Indians have made their way from different parts of the country, awestruck as much by the natural beauty of Kandy and its lovely hills as by the lovely three-hour drive from Colombo. For them, victory on Saturday will be a bonus, not the be-all and end-all, which is not to say that they won’t be disappointed if their heroes don’t deliver; for some others, it might not be as negotiable.

Pakistan ODI cricket team

Pakistan recently ascended the top of the ICC ODI team rankings, their No. 1 status a true reflection of the class they possess. In Babar Azam, they have one of the pre-eminent batsmen of his generation while Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf form a pace-triumvirate comparable to the best there has been in the history of the country, if not the sport itself. Pakistan have come a long way from being the self-destructing outfit they used to be, and the fact that throwaway words such as ‘tempestuous’ and ‘volatile’ are no longer associated with them is a tribute to the consistency and calmness that is a Babar trademark.

Their settled state stems from a constancy in selection and a willingness to invest in the future, traits that India have been forced to jettison in recent times for one reason or another. A plethora of serious injuries to key personnel left Rohit Sharma in the unenviable position of not being able to summon his first-choice eleven for almost a year now, but with the World Cup imminent, a favourable alignment of the stars is most welcome.

Prep for World Cup 2023

Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna have already showcased a return to total fitness after back surgery, their telling spells in a T20I series in Ireland indicating that they are well on their way to rediscovering their verve and venom of the past.

Shreyas Iyer, a vital cog in the middle-order wheel with his innovative fearlessness, has been reasonably trouble-free since surgery also to his back, and it is more or less certain that KL Rahul, the first choice as a wicketkeeper-cum-middle-order batsman when he is fully fit, will join the squad ahead of the Super 4s in Colombo next week.

Only Rishabh Pant, making excellent progress after the horrific car crash of last December, is out of the picture, and as huge a blow as his absence is, the think-tank will be eternally grateful that pieces of the jigsaw are beginning to fall in place, even if belatedly, as the World Cup beckons.

History matters

While Indian and Pakistani players enjoy greater leeway now against a bad day in office compared to an era when defeat wasn’t treated without scorn, anger and sorrow, they do experience an added edge when up against each other. No matter what their public proclamations might be, it’s impossible for them to treat it as just another game. The stage, the occasion, the history and the emotion combine to elevate it to an almost gladiatorial showdown, helped along by the hype generated by the official broadcaster and the waves of hysteria that descend from other platforms including the ubiquitous social media ones.

Prediction problem

That India have won the last three ODIs with Pakistan won’t count for much, nor should it. As mentioned previously, the last of those three matches was more than 50 months back and so much has happened in the intervening period that to look for signs and omens might be clutching at straws. In so many ways, Saturday (September 2, 2023; 3pm IST) will witness two teams looking for different things – Pakistan for validation that they are second to none, India for cohesiveness and purpose and fulfilment of role-allocations that haven’t all been made public, but which have been well worked out within the contours of the team environment.

India come well-prepared into a tournament they have won seven times previously, with a purposeful camp in Bengaluru – they have invariably delivered when they have had the luxury of preparation – while Pakistan are carrying form and momentum. Strap yourself up for a rollercoaster ride of tremendous skills and strong emotions.