In the mother of all cricketing battles, India and Pakistan will go up against one another in the third match of the Asia Cup 2023. The rivalry will take the centrestage tomorrow as the two teams will cross swords at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
Leading up to the clash, India have a lot to ponder. Doubts will remain on their batting order until we get to know where their wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan bat. Moreover, Babar Azam’s roaring ODI form could also be a headache for Rohit Sharma’s men.
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Often being compared to Virat Kohli, Pakistan captain Babar is in the midst of a purple patch when we talk about the ODI format. With his whirlwind 151-run knock, he helped Pakistan open their Asia Cup 2023 points tally as the side achieved a mammoth 238-run victory against Nepal.
Although Babar might prove to be hard to get past for India, Kuldeep Yadav could be his nemesis. The leg-spinner has often bested better in the past, bamboozling the right-hander with peach of deliveries on as many as two occasions.
Babar Azam’s record vs Kuldeep Yadav
Babar averages just nine against Kuldeep and has been dismissed twice; first in the Asia Cup 2018 and then the World Cup 2019.
| Runs | Balls | Dismissals | Average | Strike–rate |
| 18 | 34 | 2 | 9 | 52.9 |
Babar Azam’s overall ODI record
Although Babar’s numbers versus India are on the poor side, he is a modern-day ODI great. Having featured in 104 ODIs, he has scored 5353 runs, including 19 hundreds at an average and strike-rate of 59.47 and 89.39 respectively.