Asia Cup 2018: 4 star players from India who will play against Pakistan for the first time ever

For every professional cricketer in India it is a dream to play against Pakistan. The viewers' interest in watching a game against Pakistan is unparalleled. Such is the importance for these games in people's hearts that every performance in a game against Pakistan will be remembered for a long time.

Due to political unrest between the two nations, India and Pakistan cricket teams face each other only in multi-nation tournaments like the Asia Cup. And that means even after playing a handful number of international games, one has to wait for a long time to play against Pakistan.

And for these four star players from India, the wait is finally over.

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#1 KL Rahul

KL Rahul is already a household name in India, thanks to his heroics both in the IPL and international games. His aggressive style of play and tattooed looks made him the crowd favourite in a short time. Even though he is still struggling to cement his place in the Indian team, he has already played more than 50 games across formats. Yet he will be facing the Pakistan bowlers for the first time in his career. And he has a chance to make his country proud.

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#2 Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav

The man who possesses one of the rarest skills in world cricket -- left arm china-man spinner -- Kuldeep Yadav has troubled most batsmen in the world with his variations. His heroics in the England tour has made him a superstar in limited overs cricket around the world. Most batsmen who face him for the first time do struggle a bit to pick him. He will be hoping to do the same in his first game against Pakistan and give India important breakthroughs in the high-pressure game.

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#3 Yuzvendra Chahal

Chahal has been India's go-to spinner

Yuzvendra Chahal is one of the many stars IPL has gifted to the world of cricket. He became a spinning sensation from the day he started playing in IPL, mostly for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

After the previous spin duo of Ashwin and Jadeja lost their spot in the limited overs squad owing to inability in picking wickets in the middle overs, Chahal has been a regular in the team and has produced a number of match-winning performances for India. His pairing with Kuldeep Yadav post-Champions Trophy has been very fruitful.

Can they do the same magic against Pakistan as well?

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#4 Manish Pandey

Manish Pandey

Manish Pandey's career is an interesting one. He has been a champion player for Karnataka in domestic cricket and he is performing very well in IPL and List A games but, so far he has never converted his domestic form to international games.

His continuous trouble with form meant he was dropped from the Indian team which toured England. But again he performed well in List A games and reclaimed his spot in the team. It will be interesting to see if he can make it to the playing 11 or not. If he does get a game, can he make it count in his first ever game against Pakistan?

Along with these star players, other players like Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel and Khaleel Ahmed have a chance to play their first game against Pakistan but, it is very unlikely that they will make it to the Playing 11.