Defending champions India will take on arch rivals Pakistan at Asia Cup 2018 on September 19 in Dubai. Former Australian batsman Michael Hussey has a small gift for team India in the form of an advice on how to tackle the in-form Pakistani opening batsman Fakhar Zaman who was the difference between the two sides in the ICC Champions Trophy finals in 2016.
Fakhar Zaman recently became the first Pakistani to score an unbeaten double century against Zimbabwe surpassing Saeed Anwar’s 194 against India in 1997. The aggressive left hander scored 210 runs off just 156 deliveries to also become the sixth overall batsman to achieve the milestone.
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Hussey feels that Zaman is a very aggressive player and likes to go hard early in his innings. This can prove fatal for the Pakistani opener as with the chances he takes, come the opportunities to vanquish the left hander. He can be deceived by taking pace off the ball which might eventually bring about his downfall.
“So plans for India against Fakhar Zaman is got to be nice, tight line and length, be very disinclined and try and maintain that pressure, try and build up some pressure on him with some dot balls and make him go for the big shots earlier than what he wants to do. I think change of pace could work against him because he goes hard at the ball, taking the pace off it could be advantageous,” said Michael Hussey.
Michael Hussey also stated that India and Pakistan are firm favourites to clinch the Asia Cup 2018 title but Afghanistan are the dark horses as a side with the likes of Rashid Khan can have a lot of surprises in store for the cricketing world.