Asia Cup 2022, India vs Pakistan: Watch out for these key player battles

Now that the two arch-rivals don't play any bilateral series due to political reasons, India-Pakistan matches in international multi-nation tournaments add to the intrigue of the storied rivalry between the two cricketing superpowers. India and Pakistan are set to clash in their Asia Cup opener at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on August 28. This will be match number 2 of the Asia Cup, which was shifted from Sri Lanka to the UAE due to the ongoing crisis in the island nation. Both India and Pakistan have lost their pace spearheads Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Afridi to injuries but that won’t affect the spiciness and excitement that comes with an India-Pakistan encounter. TimesofIndia.com here looks at some of the key player battles that can be the difference between victory and defeat and what you need to watch out for: Virat Kohli vs Usman QadirVirat Kohli may be going through a lean patch by his own lofty standards, but underestimating the former Indian captain in a match as big will be a mistake Pakistan will not be wanting to make. India's first match of the Asia Cup against Pakistan will be Kohli’s 100th T20I and he will be gunning more than anyone else to get a formidable score.

There's no doubt that Virat Kohli really comes into his own while playing against Pakistan. He is the all-time leading run scorer in India vs Pakistan T20I clashes. So far, the two teams have played 9 T20I matches against each other, with India leading the head to head 6-2. One match ended in a tie, which India won via a bowl-out in the 2007 T20 World Cup. Virat has played 7 T20Is against the men in green so far, scoring 311 runs with a highest score of 78* at an astonishing average of 77.75 and a strike rate of 118.25,