India vs Pakistan Asia Cup T20 2016: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan key for India

Admin 27-Feb-2016 13:47:26 Inothernews

India vs Pakistan Asia Cup T20 2016: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan key for India


India will need a strong stand first-up, as their build-up for the ICC World T20 2016 has begun and they would not like to have their two star batsmen struggling as a pair. The first round of the India versus Pakistan bout in the early part of 2016 will be played on Saturday night at Dhaka, when the two cricketing powerhouses will clash in the Asia Cup 2016 match. The second round of the India versus Pakistan will be played on March 19, when the two teams clash in the league round of ICC World T20 2016, in Dharamsala. While India have had a good run against Pakistan in the recent times in limited-overs cricket, once again they will need the pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan to fire at the top. While there is no doubt that an explosive stand between Rohit and Dhawan will set the tone for the rest of the Indian batsmen, it will also be important for India to send out a strong message. The last time India and Pakistan clashed — in their first match of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 — Pakistan were able to keep the pair quiet with Dhawan falling early. It is expected that the pitch will remain a green-top wicket, obviously to provide the bowlers a fair opportunity as well as try and sustain a good number of matches. All the matches of the Asia Cup 2016 will be played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka, and keeping in mind the wickets for the last three games in the tournament so far, another pitch with a green tinge can be expected. India will need Rohit and Dhawan to carry on in the manner they have been going about their jobs. While Rohit is rapidly turning into a monster as far as limited-overs cricket is concerned, Dhawan has somehow been a little inconsistent and this is where India; problems lie. In case if Dhawan fails again — he was beaten by seam movement in India’s first match of Asia Cup 2016 against Bangladesh — it will put pressure on No. 3 batsman Virat Kohli and the others. Kohli, too, had struggled in the first match with his stroke timing and placement, but he can be expected to make runs given the fact that he is a big-match player. India will need a strong stand first-up, as their build-up for ICC World T20 2016 has begun, and they would not like to have their two star batsmen struggling as a pair. Understandably, there is always the pressure on the batsmen to start scoring runs right from the word go in Twenty20 cricket, but Rohit and Dhawan’s strategy of seeing off first few overs and opening up later on has done wonders for them so far.



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