IND vs Pak 2022: Can India and Pakistan meet again in the tournament?

Can India meet Pakistan again after the latter's close loss in their Asia Cup 2022 opener? Ideally, there's not one, but two chances for both sides to meet each other if they play some quality cricket against their Group B opponents.

It was a heartbreaking defeat for Pakistan on Sunday (August 28) after Hardik Pandya's calm innings along with notable contributions from Virat Kohli (35) and Ravindra Jadeja (35) saw them chase down a tricky target of 147 with two balls to spare at the Dubai International Stadium.

Before we get into the scenarios of their future encounters, here's a look at both groups:

Group A	Group B
India	Sri Lanka
Pakistan	Bangladesh
Hong Kong	Afghanistan

Based on their performances, four teams (A1, A2, B1 and B2) will then be placed in the same group. The second super 4 round-robin stage will have all the teams facing each other, of which the two will make the cut for the final on September 11.

While Group B makes it impossible to have favorites, India and Pakistan are more favored to make it A1 and A2, respectively. This would mean they will face two of the three teams that make it from the other group. Quite simply, the best cricket from both sides will see them face each other on two more occasions.

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How can India vs Pakistan happen in the Asia Cup 2022?

If India win against Hong Kong on Wednesday (August 31), they will finish as table-toppers, while Pakistan's win against the same team on Friday (September 2) will see these sides finish in the top two of Group A.

Assuming the first scenario pans out, the two sides will meet again on Sunday (September 4). If they manage to vault over two teams from Group B in the super 4 and finish first and second, respectively, the two teams will have a chance of one final encounter on Sunday (September 11).

Leading into the tournament, both Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam's men will be looked at as title contenders. While the Men in Blue are defending champions, they have their work cut out against other teams in order to end their campaign as winners once again.