Asia Cup: Shaheen vs Indian openers to Babar vs Kuldeep, top player battles

Will Indian openers survive Shaheen Afridi's opening spell or whether Kuldeep Yadav spins the web around Babar Azam once again? Here are the top battles to watch out for in Asia Cup 2023

Asia Cup 2023 is going to be the battleground that will set the stage for the Men’s ODI World Cup 2023. It will see player battles like Rohit Sharma facing up against Shaheen Afridi and Virat Kohli taking on left-arm spinners and wrist spinners like Shakib Al Hasan and Rashid Khan. Here are the top five battles to look out for in this edition of the continental showpiece event.

Shaheen Afridi vs Indian openers

Indian openers and their struggle against the left-handed pacers is not new. Shaheen Afridi showed that during the 2021 T20 World Cup. In the 2022 edition, Indian batters were able to tackle the swing of Shaheen on a damp wicket, but that doesn’t mean they have overcome him.

In fact, since 2019, six pacers have taken a 5-wicket haul against India in ODIs, and out of these four are left-arm pacers – Reece Topley, Trent Boult, Mustafizur Rahman, and Micthell Starc.

Thus the ball that is coming into the right-hander after pitching outside off is a big problem and Afridi who has been lethal in his career so far, picking up 70 wickets in just 36 ODIs, and Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma have to concentrate hard to evade that inswinging delivery. 

Even if Ishan Kishan plays as an opener, Shaheen is still going to be more effective as he has got two quality left-handers, Colin Munro and Tom Latham out eight times in only 65 overs bowled against New Zealand in eight matches.

Babar Azam vs Kuldeep Yadav

Babar Azam has not faced Kuldeep Yadav quite often. In the three matches, Kuldeep was able to get the better of Babar on two occasions while in one match the Pakistani captain was run out.

Babar doesn’t have much problem against orthodox left-arm spinners as such. However, Chinnman bowler Kuldeep is a gear bowler to right-handers and that has made the difference against Babar.

Kuldeep has got better of five right-handers- Jason Roy, Rovman Powell, Aiden Markram, and Aaron Finch thrice each, showing his command over bowling against right-hand batters.

Rashid Khan vs Hardik Pandya

Rashid Khan vs Hardik Pandya will not only be a bowler versus batter fight or vice versa, but it will also be a fight between two leaders of their teams and two players that have played together on the same side in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Both Rashid and Pandya are expected to deliver with both bat and ball for their side.

While Rashid has played 89 ODI matches and scored 1142 runs besides doing his primary work of picking 167 wickets. Pandya has an experience of 77 matches in which he has scored 1666 runs and took 77 wickets. These two impact players could emerge as prime game-changers for their teams.

Mohammad Rizwan vs Indian pacers

Mohammad Rizwan has been terrific against India, scoring 197 runs in four T20 international matches. He never played a 50-over game against India yet. Against India, he got out thrice and always to a pace bowler. While Arshdeep Singh’s swing got the better of him in the 2022 T20 World Cup, Pandya’s short balls were his nemesis in the Asia Cup T20 in 2022.

Indian spinners have not been able to do any damage to him and thus this time around, it would once again be the battle between Indian pacers combing Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj along with Pandya against Rizwan.

Ravindra Jadeja and Shakib Al Hasan in middle overs

Shakib Al Hasan, the ever-mesmerizing Bangladesh all-rounder is now in the twilight of his career at the age of 37 years. If not the 2023 ODI World Cup, the 2027 edition could be his last. At the same time, Wanindu Hasaranga, 26, is rising to the occasion to take the stage as the best all-rounder in the continent of not the world. However, Hasranga's injury came as a major blow for Sri Lanka ahead of the continental tournament. 

But how one can ignore, Ravindra Jadeja who is still there to assert his name at the top of the list.

Shakib has taken 305 wickets and scored 7211 runs in only 235 matches to feature in the elite list of all-rounders while Jadeja has to his name 2560 runs and 194 wickets in 177 matches.