The biggest cricket match of 2016 February month is set to play on 27 when arch rivals India and Pakistan are set to meet each other in Micromax Asia Cup at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Bangladesh. The India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2016 match is scheduled to start at 19:30 local time, 19:00 IST and 18:30 PKT (Pakistan Standard Timing).
This is going to be the blockbuster match of the tournament and both teams will be eagerly waiting to beat each other. It will be 7th occasion when India and Pakistan will be meeting in a T20I game. Last time these two arch rivals faced each other in 2014 world twenty20 group match in which India defeated Pakistan by 7 wickets.
In their past 6 international meetings Men in Blue beat Pakistan on 5 occasions. Hence Shahid Afridi’s team will be looking to improve their record against India before facing them in ICC World T20 on 19 March. The last ever meeting between these two cricketing giants was in 2015 cricket world cup in which India defeated Pakistan.
Related: India vs Pakistan T20 cricket history
Match Details
Tournament: Micromax Asia Cup
Date: 27 February 2016
Time: 19:30 local time, 19:00 IST, 18:30 PKT
Venue: Sher-E-Bangla Stadium, Dhaka
MS Dhoni will be leading team India in this crucial match whereas Shahid Afridi to captain Pakistan. Men in Blue are in tremendous form and they won recently away series against Australia and home series versus Sri Lanka. So it will be a tough challenge for Pakistan to overcome Indian team.
Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina will be the key players for team India in the match to score big runs on the board. Shere-Bangla stadium’s conditions favor to both batsman and bowlers especially spinners. Hence Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin’s pair will definitely be crucial in the middle overs.
On the other hand Pakistan team will be highly depending on their all-rounder captain Afridi. Middle order batsman Umar Akmal is in sensational form and he scored some good runs in the Pakistan Super League. So he’ll be the man to watch out for Men in Green. Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik and Sarfaraz Ahmed will surely be the key batsmen for Pakistanis to watch out for.
Mohammad Amir’s return to Pakistan team, has seriously strengthen their bowling line-up insights of Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Irfan. Let’s have a look at the team squad for both teams in this match.
Squads
India
MS Dhoni (Captain), Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Mohammed Shami, Pawan Negi.
Pakistan
Shahid Afridi (Captain), Mohammed Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Sami, Imad Wasim, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Sharjeel Khan, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz, Khurram Manzoor, Khali Latif.
Prediction
It will be an interesting contest between two countries. If you look at the current form of both teams and past record in the battle, Indian team will be favorite to win against Pakistan. Full preview and match prediction is here.
TV Channels Listing
Star Sports is the official broadcaster of tournament, hence it will bring live coverage of India-Pakistan T20 match on 27th February 2016. Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 3 to air live match from 19:30 as per local Bangladesh time.
DD National will also telecast this match in India whereas Pakistan based viewers can tune to PTV Sports to watch live Pakistan vs India twenty20 match in Asia Cup 2016. Get the full list of broadcasters here.