Sports
India v Pakistan winner at Asia Cup: Akram, Sharma give their picks
This is the year of the ICC Cricket World Cup in the 50-over format, which will be held in India. The Asia Cup 2023 is a great dress rehearsal especially for the regional powerhouses, India and Pakistan, and more so it is being held in the subcontinental conditions of the latter for a bit as original hosts and replacement venue Sri Lanka.
The two neighbours India and Pakistan meet on Saturday in an ODI for the first time since 2019, a long way, and adds to the euphoria building around it despite experts in Dubai trying to play it down.
Former Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram has tried to mask his gut feeling by pointing to the previous edition of the Asia Cup, held in the UAE, while appearing as a brand ambassador for the title sponsors Super 11 Fantasy League. India beat Pakistan, but the latter eventually reached the final (against Sri Lanka) while India did not in a shock result for the Men in Blue.
At another event, veteran commentator Charu Sharma, said “the brain says Pakistan, but the heart beats for India”, but both tried to subdue their enthusiasm in addressing other teams in the same breath. And latest word coming from Pallekele in Sri Lanka is that the rain clouds will also be out to dampen the length of cricket, if not a dreaded washout.
New personal feat for Charu Sharma
Charu Sharma and Ajay Sethi, owner of Fun Asia Network. Picture supplied
Among the pioneering voices behind Indian cricket, Sharma has been commentating since the early 1980s in a career which he admitted “was all about being at the right place at the right time.” And now he was excited and yet observed the irony of it that in his four decades of commentary, he has not checked off radio from his checklist. That has now changed with him being the star name behind Fun Asia Network and its Talk and Big 106.2 FM channels.
Speaking to Headline.ae, Sharma dipped into his years of experience to state how he is going to handle the new radio chapter in the era of TV and its rapid introduction of technology. “People still want to know the story of every ball in radio. So I think the focus still remains on every single ball … the backstories, statistics, etc are all secondary. Accuracy and action is the key.”
Sharma rubbished the notion that teams are fielding second-string sides to protect the main players before the all-important CWC next month. “The World Cup is a different tournament. And the minute you go into any one event or tournament, you want to win that. No one is using the Asia Cup as a tool for preparation for the World Cup. It has a lot of prominence. It’s not a junk tournament.
“We talked about the favurites, but the tournament standard is very high. If you put together India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and to some extent Afghanistan, you’re talking about a set of nations who can beat anyone on any given day.”
Wasim Akram at the unveiling of the title sponsors for the Asia Cup in Dubai.
Akram’s vote goes to …
Meanwhile, Wasim Akram was adept at masking where his money is when asked to choose a winner between India and Pakistan.
“Though the Pakistani team is top in ranking nowadays, I want to remind you that Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup last time, while India couldn’t even qualify for the finals. The India-Pakistan game is very important, but you can’t rule out other teams like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh; even Afghanistan has a surprise element,” Akram said.
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