Asia Cup 2018: Imran Khan likely to be in attendance for India-Pakistan clash

As soon as Pakistan new Prime Minister Imran Khan announced his first foreign trip to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, rumours regarding his presence in India-Pakistan encounter in the Asia Cup 2018 also spread like a fire. Reports from Pakistan media have claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan is likely to attend his country’s Asia Cup match against India on Wednesday, September 19 in Dubai

Imran, who is also the patron-in-chief of Pakistan Cricket Board and former captain of the Pakistan cricket team, left for his first foreign trip as prime minister on Wednesday and reports indicate that watching the highly-anticipated match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium is on his itinerary.

Addressing the rumours of Imran Khan being at the game, Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed told Express Tribune, "Imran Khan has a fan following in both India & Pakistan. If he comes to the ground it’ll be great for the fans. For us, it’ll be motivation as he’s coming as the PM plus the Pakistan team is always motivated whenever he comes to watch a match."

This is the first time since 2006 that the two sides are facing each other in the UAE and the first India-Pakistan match since the Champions Trophy final in June 2017. Incidentally, Imran Khan was Pakistan captain for the majority of the matches played between the two teams in the UAE during the 1980s.

The India-Pakistan rivalry is considered to be one of the fiercest in the game of cricket. While the two sides have not played a bilateral series since 2013, they have met numerous times in multi-nation tournaments.

Before becoming a politician and being elected as the Prime Minister, Imran was one of the finest all-rounders to have played the game and also led Pakistan to its first World Cup title in 1992.