India can BEAT Pakistan despite losing toss in Asia Cup 2022 clash, says Aakash Chopra - here's why

The much-awaited contest between India and Pakistan at the Asia Cup 2022 finally upon us. This could just be a curtain raiser for things to come our way as India may meet Pakistan twice more after tonight's clash, once in Super 4 and then in the final. Only time will tell if that is happening or not. India will have revenge of their minds when they take on Pakistan in Sunday battle. They were thrashed by the Babar Azam-led side 10 months back at the same place in the T20 World Cup 2021.

Toss will not play a huge role from India's standpoint, feels former India batter Aakash Chopra. He said, while speaking on the Koo app, that Pakistan are not the same side anymore without Shaheen Shah Afridi who was ruled out of Asia Cup 2022 due to an injury.    

"The pitch at Dubai has a lot of grass and help for the pacers. The absence of Shaheen Afridi has pushed back Pakistan quite significantly. They say that it`s `win the toss, win the match` in Dubai but I feel that India can beat Pakistan even after losing the toss as their bowling isn`t the same without Shaheen," Chopra said.

Mohammad Hasnain has replaced Shaheen Afridi in Pakistan`s 15-member squad for the T20 Asia Cup 2022.Meanwhile, Team India head coach Rahul Dravid has tested negative for COVID-19 and has joined the team in Dubai.Squads:

India squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan 

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Hasan Ali, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Hasnain.