India vs Pakistan: Rohit & Co set to unleash pace duo on Pak once again in Super Four

There is an old adage which says ‘don’t tinker with things that aren’t broken’ and this saying fits perfectly to the current Indian team which has been firing on all cylinders in the ongoing Asia Cup 2018 in the UAE.

More than their batting, it has been the performance of the Indian bowlers that has helped the team gain victories in all three matches that they have played in the tournament thus far.

Indian pace duo Bhunveshwar Kumar (6 wickets in 3 matches) and Jasprit Bumrah (5 wickets in 3 matches) have lit up the tournament with their fine performances and have been instrumental in the team getting good starts in the last two matches against Pakistan and Bangladesh, respectively.

Also Read: India’s predicted XI for the super 4 clash against Pakistan

Against Pakistan in the group stage, Bhuvneshwar removed both the openers for just three runs on the board and that played a big role in the team getting dismissed for a sub-par 162.

Then, in their first Super Four match against Bangladesh, the Indian pace duo got rid of the openers for 16 and set the tone for Ravindra Jadeja to tear apart the middle-order.

Both Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar scalped three wickets against Bangladesh and by doing so, they go one place up each in the list of most number of times, three or more wickets have been taken by an India bowler in ODIs since 2016.

3+ wickets on most occasions by Indian bowlers since 2016

Overall, Bumrah (5) stands third in the list of most number of times a pacer has scalped three or more wickets in an innings outside home, since 2016 — Pakistan’s Hasan Ali (15) and Australia’s Mitchell Starc (7)

Considering their recent form and their ability to pick wickets in tandem up front with the new ball, it seems all but confirmed that the duo will feature in the blockbuster Super Four clash against arch-rivals Pakistan as well.

First Published: Sep 22, 2018 13:46 IST