ALSO READ: Asia Cup 2018: India is ready to face Pakistan DUBAI: It is difficult to imagine an India-Pakistan match bereft of egos and emotions. The hurt and the disappointment is always that much more for the team which finishes second best. In this case, it’s Pakistan ’s turn to restore pride in Sunday’s repeat encounter.The Dubai International Stadium, the venue for the match, betrayed the usual buzz that surrounds a contest of this stature, while the players restricted themselves to their team hotels, giving themselves the best chance to recover in time.The game on Sunday is the most significant one the tournament has had to offer so far. A win will virtually seal a spot in the Asia Cup final. Unlike the encounter on Wednesday, there’s a context to this game.Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur had criticized his team for the abject surrender on Wednesday, while acknowledging it was a largely inconsequential game.Friday will be different. The losing team might still come back and sneak into the final, but a loss will hurt a lot of egos. And if Pakistan manage to lose a second game against India on the trot, it is more likely to trigger disturbance among fans back home.There is one cricketer who will also be looking for a chance at redemption: Ravindra Jadeja. The pasting at the hands of the Pakistani batsmen in the Champions Trophy final last year put his future in limited-overs cricket in jeopardy. Jadeja has counted each day of his exile.“480 days,” he asserted after his comeback match against Bangladesh on Friday night. “This comeback is memorable, because there hadn’t been much gap to the previous comebacks. I will always remember this,” the all-rounder said, clearly still hurting.Throughout this tournament, the Indian camp has tried to remain low key while talking about their matches against Pakistan. “We’re doing well, their team is good. So hopefully for the people it will be a good and interesting game,” is all Jadeja could make of the game.Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq, all of 22, reminded the world about the mercurial nature of Pakistan’s cricket.“People talked about how it was going to be difficult in Champions Trophy. When the Pakistan team gathers momentum, it gets difficult for others to catch up. We have the momentum now,” Imam thundered after Shoaib Malik helped Pakistan get over the line against Afghanistan on Friday night.“Our strength is bowling. We need to bowl them out. Koshish hogi openers ko jaldi out karein (we will try to dismiss their openers early.) Our batsmen let the team down in the previous game against India. But this time, we will give them a tough time,” Imam said.The gloves are definitely off.<doc-sep>Last updated on .From the section Cricket Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan now have 13 100-run opening wicket ODI partnerships for India, one more than Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag Asia Cup Super Four, Dubai Pakistan 237-7 (50 overs): Malik 78, Sarfraz 44, Kuldeep 2-41, Bumrah 2-29 India 238-1 (39.3 overs): Dhawan 114, Rohit 111 India won by nine wickets Scorecard Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan shared an opening partnership of 210 as India thrashed Pakistan for the second time at the Asia Cup in Dubai. The victory, coupled with Bangladesh's win over Afghanistan, means India have booked their place in Friday's final. India restricted Pakistan to 237-7 before chasing down the target in 39.3 overs, for the loss of just one wicket. Dhawan hit 114 from 100 balls before he was run out, with Rohit finishing on 111 not out from 119 deliveries. The pair had also top scored as India beat their bitter rivals by eight wickets in the group stage of the tournament, which is being played in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Rohit's knock was his 19th one-day hundred, while his partnership with Dhawan was India's highest one-day international opening stand against Pakistan - and their fourth highest first-wicket stand against anyone in the ODI format. The win is India's biggest against Pakistan in terms of wickets in ODIs, improving on the eight-wicket win over Pakistan in Melbourne in 1985. Pakistan's innings was anchored by Shoaib Malik who made 78 from 90 balls, adding 107 for the fourth wicket with skipper Sarfraz Ahmed (44) who had won the toss. In the other Super Four game in Abu Dhabi, Bangladesh ended Afghanistan's chances of reaching the final in a final-over thriller. Chasing 249 to win, and needing eight off the final over with four wickets in hand, Rashid Khan was caught and bowled by Mustafizur Rahman off the second ball of the over and Afghanistan fell short by three runs. What's next? Pakistan take on Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, in what is effectively a semi-final - with the winner earning a place in the final against India. Pakistan currently lead the Tigers on net run rate. Before that, India face Afghanistan in Dubai in their final Super Four game on Tuesday.<doc-sep>India have secured their place in the final of Asia Cup 2018 with the 9-wicket victory over Pakistan in their second match of the Super Four stage. India had earlier defeated Bangladesh in their first Super 4 match. They are the only unbeaten team in the tournament so far. They now have four points after their two Super 4 matches and are virtually assured of a place in the Asia Cup 2018 final. India play Afghanistan in their final Super 4 match. Afghanistan have lost both their Super 4 matches so far and are out of contention for the final. However, Bangladesh and Pakistan are both in the hunt for the final berth. They face each other in their final Super 4 match. Both Pakistan and Bangladesh have lost to India and defeated Afghanistan in this stage, which means that their Super 4 match will be a virtual semifinal and the winner will face India in the final on Friday. Teams Matches Win Loss Points NRR India 2 2 0 4 +1.333 Pakistan 2 1 1 2 -0.556 Bangladesh 2 1 1 2 -0.645 Afghanistan 2 0 2 0 -0.065 India face Afghanistan on Tuesday while Bangladesh and Pakistan face off on Wednesday in the remaining Super Four matches in the Asia Cup 2018.<doc-sep>Afghanistan to cause a major upset in the Asia Cup final, predicts Kevin Pietersen Afghanistan are playing just their second Asia Cup after 2014 when they finished fifth among six teams. They are the lowest ranked Test-playing nation in this Asia Cup but their performance so far has already made a thumping impact. Afghanistan, the 10th ranked ODI team has thrashed Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in their group games to finish as the toppers and were also playing Pakistan with a lot of authority in the Super Four stage. Underdogs not long ago, Asghar Afghan’s side now seems to be a dark horse in the tournament. Having beaten only Zimbabwe and Ireland more than 10 times, Afghanistan came to the tournament as a side capable of pulling off a surprise or two. But they played with authority in both their games and defeated Sri Lanka by 91 runs in their first game and Bangladesh by 136 runs in their second game. On both occasions, the Afghan side scored 250 runs on an average and restricted the opponents below 160. In their first game in the Super Four stage against Pakistan too, Afghanistan scored 257 batting first and were giving Pakistan a real challenge to win it. Afghanistan could go all the way The team’s eye-catching performance was praised by a lot of people and one among them is former England batsman Kevin Pietersen. The 38-year-old South Africa-born said in a tweet that his instinct was telling him that Afghanistan could go all the way to the finals and even cause an upset there. He said the prevailing conditions in the UAE and the constitution of their team make Afghanistan a decent side in the tournament. Something tells me that Afghanistan could well make finals and possibly cause a major upset….! Just got that feeling… Conditions! Make up of their team! Star players! — Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) September 21, 2018 The Afghans are playing their second Asia Cup after 2014 when they finished fifth among six teams after defeating Bangladesh. The red helmets have two more games to play in the Super Four stage – against Bangladesh and India – and they would have to play really good to qualify for the final by finishing among the top two teams. Afghanistan’s ace cricketer Rashid Khan was the hero against Bangladesh on Thursday night when he slammed a quick 50 at No. 9 and then picked 2 wickets for 13 runs in 9 overs to make it a memorable birthday.<doc-sep>
DUBAI: Pakistan will face India in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup tomorrow (September 22). The match will start at 4:30pm PST with the winner qualifying for the final of the tournament. Despite the first match between the South Asian neighbours being a one-sided affair, former cricketers say no team is the outright favourite. “Pakistan is wounded and India can fall victim to complacency,” said Ramiz Raja on which team would come out on top. Sohail Tavir who has represented Pakistan in all formats of the game said the men in green stood a chance if they score 260 or more. “It’s 50-50 despite the fact that Pakistan have not played well lately. But we still have the capability and ability.” Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly said the outcome of the match would be favourable to the team which scored over 100 with the loss of one wicket at the end of 25 overs. “I think 250-260 can be a match-winning total on this pitch. It will be difficult for either team to take ten wickets and what good disciplined bowling will be required.” Pakistan´s captain Sarfraz Ahmed (L) leaves the field followed by India´s Dinesh Karthik (R) and Ambati Rayudu (C) at the end of the one day international (ODI) Asia Cup cricket match between Pakistan and India at The Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on September 19, 2018 - AFP The first highly-anticipated match between the two neighbouring countries took place on Wednesday (September 19) with India crushing Pakistan by eight wickets. Batting first, Pakistan collapsed with the entire team back in the pavilion after scoring just 162 in 43.1 overs. India attack was led by pacer Bhuneshwar Kumar 93-15) and part-time off-spinner Kedar Jadhav (3-23). India’s batting made quick work of the Pakistan bowlers, with skipper Rohit Sharma blasting a 39-ball 52 with fellow opener chipping in with his 54-ball 46 as the team won in 29 overs. Following the first match between the two sub-continent rivals, India went on to defeat Bangladesh by seven wickets while Pakistan pulled off a sensational last over three-wicket win against Afghanistan in the Super Four stage. Afghanistan will take on Bangladesh in the other Super Four match in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.