Asia Cup 2018: All you need to know about India-Pakistan clash

India and Pakistan are set to fight against each other in the fifth match of the ongoing Asia Cup at the Dubai International Cricket Ground, Dubai. Both teams are facing each other after a gap of almost more than a year as they last faced each other in the finals of the Champions Trophy 2018.

The prime focus of this match just like any other India-Pakistan match will be on India's batting vs Pakistan's bowling. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni in India's batting will be up against Pakistan's Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Usman Khan and Faheem Ashraf.

Pakistan will have an upper edge over India in this match as they have the advantage of knowing the pitch conditions better than the Indians as they play most of their home matches at the United Arab Emirates only. They also clean swept their last two series here against West Indies 3-0 and Sri Lanka 5-0. It was also seen during the game between Pakistan and Hong Kong where the former completely dominated the game and won it single sided.

Players to watch out for:

Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam are the two batsmen on whom Pakistan's batting will rely the most. In bowling, all eyes will be on Hasan Ali after his tremendous performance in the last some time.

India's spin twins of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav are expected to continue to impress here as well just like the last match against Hong Kong. In batting, either Rohit Sharma or Shikhar Dhawan is also expected to score big and lay the foundation for the Indian middle order batsmen.

Probable Playing XIs:

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya/Khaleel Ahmed

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam Ul Haq, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Khan, Mohammad Amir/Junaid Khan, Hasan Ali

Pitch Conditions and Broadcast Timings:

It is expected to yet another a hot and humid day with the pitch being on the slower side which is likely to assist the spin bowlers.

The match will go on air live on the Star Sports network in both English and Hindi commentary from 5:00 p.m. IST onwards. It will also be streamed live on Hotstar.