Asia Cup 2023: India vs Pakistan Both Teams Strongest Playing 11

Virat Kohli and Babar Azam face off as we look at India vs Pakistan strongest playing 11 comparison for Asia Cup 2023. 

The Asian Cricket Council recently announced the official schedule for Asia Cup 2023, and the fans are eagerly waiting for the India vs Pakistan clash – the first time since T20 World Cup 2022. The epic India vs Pakistan clash at Asia Cup 2023 shall take place on September 02, Saturday at Kandy, Sri Lanka. 

We are left with just a month for the epic clash, and that brings us to the most important question, the players’ selection. The official 15-member squad for both teams has not been announced yet, but we still know the players are likely to feature in the playing 11 for the epic clash. 

With Asia Cup 2023 going to be played in a 50-over format, the excitement only doubles. Both teams will be putting forward their strongest 11 with ODI World Cup 2023 in hindsight. So, given the understanding of all players, and their recent injury issues, let’s look at India vs Pakistan strongest playing 11 at Asia Cup 2023. 

Asia Cup 2023 – India vs Pakistan Strongest Playing 11 for Both Teams:

Openers: Rohit Sharma & Shubman Gill vs Imam Ul-Haq & Fakhar Zaman

Talking about the openers for India vs Pakistan, the competition seems intense with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill for Team India, and Imam Ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman for Pakistan. It is a strong combination of openers for both teams with all four players in the top 10 ICC ODI batters ranking currently. 

While Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are ranked 10 and 5 respectively, Imam Ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman are ranked 4 and 3 respectively. The openers of both teams have been in tremendous form off late, and they will play a huge role in India vs Pakistan clash at Asia Cup 2023.

Middle-order: Virat Kohli & KL Rahul (wk) vs Babar Azam & Mohammad Rizwan (wk)

Coming to the middle-order, it is a straight one-on-one clash between Virat Kohli and Babar Azam, and wicket-keepers KL Rahul and Mohammad Rizwan. While Virat and Babar are their team’s best ODI batters respectively, KL Rahul and Mohammad Rizwan are their team’s first-choice keepers respectively.

The key question for the middle-order position for Team India shall be the availability of KL Rahul. As of today, KL Rahul is still recovering at the NCA. However, KL is most likely to recover with Asia Cup almost a month away. In case, KL Rahu doesn’t recover, we should see Sanju Samson as the first-choice keeper for Team India.   

Comparing the middle-order, It is once again neck-and-neck between both teams. While Babar Azam is the number 1 ranked ODI batter in the world, Kohli isn’t far behind at the number 8 position. Similarly, KL Rahul is a better ODI batter than Rizwan with both ranked at 41 and 61 respectively. 

Finishers: Hardik Pandya, Surya K. Yadav & R. Jadeja vs Iftikhar Ahmed, A. Salman & Shadab Khan

For the finishers, the round belongs to Team India given the quality of players in the side. However, there is a catch for Team India, and that is the debatable position of Suryakumar Yadav. Will Team India give a finisher role to Suryakumar Yadav, or will Shreyas Iyer recover, and takes that position?

Whatever decision Team India take, it is going to be a strategic call. If Shreyas Iyer recovers, he will play at number 4 position, and KL Rahul shall play at number 5. But if Shreyas doesn’t recover, SKY will mostly play as a finisher at 6 with KL Rahul at 4 or 5. But if given an option, SKY at 6 adds more value as a finisher than Iyer at 4. 

Aside from that, the combination of Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja looks more dangerous as finishers as compared to Pakistan, which has Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, and Shadab Khan. If Pakistan plays Shadab at 7, Wasim Junior will have to play at 8 to strengthen the batting. 

Bowlers: K. Yadav, J. Bumrah, M. Shami & M. Siraj vs M. Wasim, Haris Rauf, S. Afridi & N. Shah

Coming to the strongest bowling combination, it is neck-and-neck with Pakistan having a slightly better pace attack than Team India. While India have a strong pace trio in the form of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj, Pakistan have a strong pace trio in the form of Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah. 

Comparing the pace attack first up, the Pakistan attack brings some good variety with the presence of the left-arm pace of Shaheen, the fierce pace of Naseem, and a great death bowling option of Haris Rauf. India’s pace attack is equally potential, but it is Bumrah’s recovery that could be the deciding factor.  

For the spin attack, India will have to rely on one of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. But given the current preference and form, Kuldeep Yadav seems the frontrunner. Whereas Pakistan will see Shadab Khan leading the spin attack. Comparing the two, Shadab Khan gets the edge for the experience, and more skill as the spinner 

Finally, analyzing the fifth and sixth bowling options, Team India’s Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja look more potent than Pakistan’s Mohammed Wasim and Agha Salman. India’s attack looks slightly better purely of the experience these two bring in, and this can come in handy

Asia Cup 2023 – Strongest Possible Playing 11 for Team India:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj & Jasprit Bumrah

Asia Cup 2023 – Strongest Possible Playing 11 for Pakistan:

Imam Ul-Haq, Fakhar Azam, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah & Shaheen Afridi 

So, that’s about the strongest playing 11 comparison for India vs Pakistan clash at Asia Cup 2023. Overall, both teams have a really strong playing 11 on paper, but Team India’s 11 looks slightly better given the current form of all players and match conditions. However, a lot would also depend on the availability of the key players for Team India. 

Thanks for reading! What’s your take on India vs Pakistan playing 11 for Asia Cup 2023? Please email your thoughts to business@cricalytics.com.

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Adesh Kothari

Adesh Kothari is the founder of AK4Tsay1 Cricalytics with over 20 years of experience following Cricket.

Cricket to him is like what Football is to Lionel Messi, Singing is to Lata Mangeshkar, Dancing is to Michael Jackson, and Acting is to Clint Eastwood.

Besides his effervescent love for Cricket, Adesh is an MBA by qualification.