'No matter how much IPL you play...': Ex-Pak captain names Babar & Co. favourites ahead of India clash

The Asia Cup 2023 edition kicks off on Wednesday evening (August 30) with Babar Azam-led Pakistan hosting Nepal in Multan. The tournament will be jointly hosted by Sri Lanka and Pakistan and the fans are eagerly excited to see the resumption of India-Pakistan rivalry. There is a strong possibility of fans to be treated with as many as three games between the two arch-rivals as they are likely to meet in the Super Four and can also lock horns in the summit clash, on September 17.

At present, India and Pakistan are in Group A and will meet each other on September 02 (Saturday) at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele. Ahead of the marquee face-off, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt named his national side as the favourites and feels India are solely dependent on captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

On his YouTube channel, Butt pointed out, "If we look at India's fast bowling, fitness is a concern. Players have been unfit for a long time, we don't know if they are fragile, will they go full throttle. Apart from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, they have youngsters, who have played plenty of cricket but they don't have that much of experience."

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He asserted, "India have won matches only when Rohit Sharma has played well or Virat Kohli has done something spectacular. When the onus is on others they have mostly struggled. Pakistan have Babar, Rizwan, Fakhar, Shadab, Shaheen, Haris Rauf. And in my opinion Pakistan have a much larger core group. India too have match-winners like Jadeja, Shami, Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli. But their batting is brittle, if Pakistan pick the two big wickets then the others will have a lot to prove. They have not helped India win matches against Pakistan or in their own."

Butt further opined on where the Men in Green have an 'added advantage' and said, "We have bowlers who can bowl at 90mph, only one or two can touch 90mph, others don't have that much pace. This is an added advantage. We have both type of spinners, fast bowling all-rounder, and he too touches 140kph."

In addition, Butt spoke about Indian youngsters and acknowledged their experience of facing tough situations in the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, he was quick to add that an Indo-Pak battle is a different ball game altogether and adds more pressure. “There are plenty of expectations from India, hence the pressure is more. And since India have not played against Pakistan for a long time for whatever reasons, their players no matter how much IPL they've played, they don't have the experience of playing in such high-voltage clash.Chahe subah, dopahar, sham IPL khel le(no matter how much you play in the IPL) it does not bring the same pressure, which is during India-Pakistan series,” he added.

The continental tournament is taking place in the 50-over format as the Asian giants are gearing up for the forthcoming ODI World Cup, in India, which kicks off on October 05.

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