India vs Pakistan Men's Cricket Final Pitch Report At Asian Games 2026

World champions India, boasting a formidable line-up of T20 stars, will look to underline their supremacy on the cricket field when they take on Pakistan in the men's gold-medal clash at the Asian Games on Saturday. Not an inch will be spared on the 22 yards or off it. There is little or no chance of Indian players shaking hands with their Pakistan counterparts, a trend that started during the Asia Cup last year and has since extended to the continental showpiece and across sports such as volleyball, table tennis and hockey.

The standard of competition in cricket is relatively modest at the Games, but for a nation that believes in using sport as soft power, the significance of a gold medal, especially one secured by beating Pakistan, is immense.

It is not often that a team wins a gold medal by winning merely two matches, but persistent rainfall led to both India and Pakistan entering the final after comfortable wins in their respective semifinals.

For interim head coach VVS Laxman and new T20 skipper Shreyas Iyer, a final against a second-string Pakistan side led by Sahibzada Farhan is akin to a banana peel.

Sidestepping potential pitfalls is considered routine, and a slip-up would be viewed as a major embarrassment, especially after India sent a near full-strength squad to Japan that features pace-bowling great Jasprit Bumrah in a competition that is far from top-notch.

Hence, Laxman and Iyer know that a gold medal would not earn them many plaudits, but anything less than gold would simply not be acceptable against a young Pakistan side that has some worthy PSL performers but distinctly lacks the star power of teams from a bygone era.

Yet the likes of Sahibzada, Maaz Sadaqat, Hasan Nawaz, Saim Ayub and Arafat Minhas can compete because of the nature of the track at Korogi Park, which has reduced the gulf between a world-class team and also-rans.

Battle between the spinners

The underlying moisture and bright sunshine have led to uneven bounce, while a good amount of turn makes the roles of Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Ravi Bishnoi important, along with the legendary Bumrah, whose skill set has always been surface-independent.

Even Abhishek Sharma could have a role to play if the turn on offer is significant.

At the other end, Pakistan will depend on wrist spinners Abrar Ahmed and Sufiyan Moqim, along with part-time spin options Saim Ayub and Arafat Minhas.

The match could be won or lost in the 16 overs likely to be bowled by the spinners from either side.

In terms of batting units, India, with Abhishek, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, semifinal hero Ishan Kishan, Asia Cup final star Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube, hold the edge.

In comparison, Pakistan's batting will largely depend on skipper Sahibzada, who once featured in a documentary discussing what it felt like to hit Bumrah for a six.

Then there is Saim, who is a highly rated youngster in Pakistan but has done little of note against India so far.

Hasan Nawaz and Abdul Samad are players Pakistan could rely on. They helped Pakistan defeat a full-strength Bangladesh side featuring Litton Das, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam and Towhid Hridoy.

To sum it up for India, there is not much to gain but a lot to lose.

Teams

India: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Vipraj Nigam, Yash Thakur, Arshdeep Singh.

Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan (captain), Saim Ayub, Maaz Sadaqat, Usman Khan, Hasan Nawaz, Abdul Samad, Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Ahmed Daniyal, Sufiyan Moqim, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Saad Masood, Haider Ali.

Match starts: 10:30 pm IST.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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