Both India and Pakistan have started their Asia Cup campaign in a similarly strong manner—managing to bowl out their respective opposition to two-digit scores. While India ran away with a nine-wicket win against UAE after bowling them out for 57 runs, Pakistan registered a 93-run win after Oman could only manage 67 runs during the run-chase.
Normally, an India-Pak match has been about Indian batters locking horns with Pakistani pacers, but this time around, the spinners of both sides will have a significant role to play, considering that Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Shah Afridi are the only specialist pacers who will be seen in action on Sunday.
Although the pitch isn't offering a significant turn, the presence of one right-arm wrist spinner and one left-arm wrist spinner each in both sides makes for a fascinating sub-plot.
Sufiyan Muqeem is a good bowler, but nowhere near as crafty as Kuldeep Yadav, whose googly has been unplayable from the hand.
Abrar Ahmed's leg-breaks and quirky celebrations have gained him a lot of fans across Pakistan, but Varun Chakravarthy, with an element of mystery attached to his art form, can mess with the minds of Pakistani batters.
He could especially be tough for young guns like Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan, who aren't reading spinners from their hands.
Last but not least, Mohammad Nawaz, the left-arm spinner ranked 30th in the actual ICC rankings but at the zenith according to his coach Mike Hesson, isn't a patch on Axar Patel, who is the most valuable yet low-profile player in the Indian line-up.
However, the chances of India deciding to sacrifice either Kuldeep or Varun to include left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh in the playing eleven remain.
There are batters like Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma, a pacer like Jasprit Bumrah, spinners of Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy's calibre in the Indian playing XI. The Indians look way more menacing on paper compared to Pakistan, who are trying to find their feet under new skipper Salman Ali Agha.
However, considering the fickle nature of the format, there is always the chance of an upset but against this Indian team, the probability remains low.
One of the most talented batters in Pakistan's line-up, opener Saim Ayub, middle-order willow-wielder Hasan Nawaz and the troika of spinners in Abrar Ahmed, Sufiyan Muqeen and Mohammed Nawaz would love to prove a point in a new look team that dumped the philosophy of depending heavily on Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan. The key for India will be to figure the ideal batting line-up. Sanju Samson's slot will be vital and so will be that of Dube, whose assigned task will be to take down the spinners in the middle overs.
Team India probable playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Team Pakistan probable playing XI: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris (WK), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Ali Agha (C), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.