The Indian team sheet will not bear the names of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja while Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, the architects of arguably Pakistan’s most famous win over India in a T20 match, will be watching the match as mere spectators.
It usually doesn’t take much for a Pak-India cricket match to be a fiery affair.
Even in times of relative calm, just the dormant history of decades ago used to be enough to get the blood boiling and shape the on-field narrative. So with the two nations set to meet each other in the Asia Cup for the first time since their almost-war of 2025, or the most intense armed conflict since the turn of the century, one would expect a greater degree of pre-match, on-field and post-match drama.
Surprisingly, though, that might not be the case this time in Dubai this Sunday. And it may largely be down to both teams having seen a change of guard over the past year or so.
After more than a cricketing generation, the Indian team sheet will not bear the names of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. On the other side, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, the architects of arguably Pakistan’s most famous win over India in a T20 match, will be watching the match as mere spectators.
Also missing will be Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan — players who were regular fixtures in Pak-India matches over the past decade but have now either retired or fallen out of favour with the selectors.
So green is this new-look Pakistan side that eight of the eleven that beat Oman in the Asia Cup opener and will likely be in the line-up against India on Sunday, have never faced India in a T20 match. Five of India’s starters against the UAE have the same story.
Meanwhile, the two sides are now led by Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Ali Agha — two nice guys who may not be able to stamp their authority on Pak-India encounters as their predecessors did.
Yadav, at 34, appears to be a stopgap leader until Shubman Gill is ready, and 31-year-old Agha’s position is even more wobbly in the ever-so capricious world of Pakistan cricket.
It’s clear that these are no long-term assets. They have until they have, which doesn’t inspire much confidence from a thrill perspective.
Recent form
Both teams were given super-easy fixtures in their Asia Cup openers and both managed to crush their opponents. India bowled out hosts UAE at a mere 57, while Pakistan allowed Oman just 10 more.
Both teams relied on spin for wickets, thanks to Dubai’s surface.
But while Indian’s batters got to their tiny target in a flash, Pakistan, while batting first against Oman, struggled a bit, which could be a sign of things to come on Sunday.
Agha and company did win a tri-series recently with a win in the final over Afghanistan, but that was entirely on the Sharjah surface, which behaves differently from the one in Dubai.
India’s last T20I series before the Asia Cup was way back in February when they hammered England 4-1 at home.
Head to head
India have a dominant record in T20Is against Pakistan, having won nine of their 13 encounters. Their win percentage of 69.35 is their highest against any of the traditional giants of world cricket.
The good thing is that each of their last four encounters in this format has gone down to the wire and been decided by razor-thin margins — just as their last match, which came in June 2024 in the United States as part of the World Cup, when Pakistan fell six short in pursuit of a mere 120.
India went on to win the tournament, whereas Pakistan went home.
Men in focus
A common complaint during the Babar-Rizwan era was that they spent a bit too much time on the crease. The problem now is the openers spending too little time on the crease. Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub, since the start of the tri-nation series till now, have one half-century between them, and that came off the southpaw’s bat against the not-so-mighty UAE.
The duo may be more adventurous than their predecessors, but they can also be more prone to failure.
In the light of their form and inexperience, all eyes will be on Fakhar Zaman — the man who is no stranger to India. The only problem is that all his good work against India has come in ODI cricket. In T20Is against India, the hard-hitting 35-year-old sees his career average dip from 23.63 to just 12.66, with his highest score being 15.
One man who has been in eye-catching form of late is Mohammad Nawaz. The all-rounder has bagged 20 wickets in his last 10 T20Is and scored 177 runs at an average of 22.12. His wicket haul also contains a match-winning five-for in the tri-series final win over Afghanistan.
From the Indian perspective, many would expect pace talisman Jasprit Bumrah to be the main man.
After all, the last time these two met, it was his 3-14 that allowed India to defend a paltry 119. But while Bumrah does Bumrah things against almost everyone, there is another who outshines even Bumrah whenever he takes the field against Pakistan.
That man is Kuldeep Yadav. The left-arm spinner has long troubled Pakistan batters in ODIs, but surprisingly, he has never played a T20I against them.
That will change this Sunday when he will be up against an inexperienced Pakistani batting lineup on a turning Dubai strip. Weathering his spell would be key if the Pakistani run-piling or run-chasing has to go anywhere.
Final thoughts
It almost smells like the start of a new chapter in Pak-India T20I history.
India will obviously still be the oddsmakers’ favourites, but there is always room for surprises.
Would it be Saim, would it be Agha, or Abrar? Whoever it is, but with the intimidating faces of the past no longer present, now is as good a time as any for fresh faces to ink their own chapters and emerge as new heroes.
Header image: A kitemaker holding kites, adorned with images of cricketers from India and Pakistan, poses for a photograph on the eve of the Asia Cup 2025 Twenty20 international cricket match between the two teams, Amritsar, India, Sept 13. — AFP
