India has advantage in Asia Cup clash against Pakistan, says cricketer-turned-politician Manoj Tiwary

By Ujjwal Roy
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], August 27 (ANI): Cricketer-turned-politician Manoj Tiwary on Saturday anticipated an interesting clash between India and Pakistan in the Asia Cup match tie on Sunday at Dubai International Stadium.
Tiwary, who is Minister of State for Sports in the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, said India has an advantage as Pakistan's pace attack lacks Shaheen Afridi, who has been ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury.
The high-voltage match will begin at 7.30 pm IST on Sunday in Dubai.
"It will be a high-voltage match. People forget past poor performances if a batter score runs against Pakistan. There is a lot of history associated with the two countries off the field. The passion and intensity reflect on the ground. The spectators have a great passion for the match, it will surely be seen tomorrow," Tiwary said.
The cricketer hoped that there will be a match "which goes down to the wire and India emerges victorious."
When asked about the impact of the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Afridi on the performances of both teams, he said that both teams will feel the impact as both the players are match winners.
"There will be an impact because both of them are match-winners are frontline bowlers. India has an advantage as Afridi is not playing because he had chipped off both Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in the previous T20 World Cup which also took place in Dubai. If two wickets are down at the beginning of an innings, it becomes difficult to rebuild. The ball swings back in after pitching from the left-hander bowlers which troubles even the biggest players in the world. Anything can happen in cricket but India has an advantage," he said.
Tiwary exuded confidence in Rohit Sharma who will lead the team for the first time in Asia Cup. He said the skipper, who "has a cool temperament", is likely to show "some aggression" during the match.
"Rohit Sharma will tackle the situation because he has a cool temperament. Some aggression is likely in him during the match as he is going to lead for the first time in India versus Pakistan match," the cricketer said.
Both sides have locked horns on nine occasions in T20I matches. India has an edge overall, with wins in seven matches out of these. Pakistan has won only two. (ANI)