India vs. Pakistan, Asia Cup Match 4: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

It doesn’t matter which format it is, when India and Pakistan play each other, it is always the biggest sporting event on the planet, and that’s no exaggeration.

Date: Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016

Time: 7:30 p.m. local (1:30 p.m. GMT / 8:30 a.m ET)

Venue: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur

Live Stream and TV Info: Star Sports (India), Geo Super, PTV Sports (Pakistan), MTV Sports (Sri Lanka), Channel 9 (Bangladesh), Willow TV (USA), SuperSport (South Africa)

Weather:  According to AccuWeather.com, there is a chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon. However, this should clear by the evening and there should be no further disruptions. 

Overview 

Football likes to lay claim to being the biggest sport in the world, and on most days that’s right. However, when India and Pakistan play each other, that statement is no longer true. It doesn’t matter where, which tournament or which format, India and Pakistan playing each other will always be one of the most -watched sporting contests in the world.

The fixture will be Pakistan’s first of the tournament, while India already opened their account, beating Bangladesh by a mammoth 45 runs in the opening clash. Having had the opportunity to scope out the conditions, India are very much favourites on paper.

However, the nature of Twenty20 and the spectacle of a meeting with Pakistan means that absolutely anything could happen.

India's batting in their opening match was underwhelming with only Rohit Sharma’s 83 off 55 really standing out on the scorecard where they posted 166. Their bowlers, although economical (only one bowler had an economy rate above six, with the rest all clocking in at 5.75) weren't exactly earth shattering.

Perhaps that was just early tournament jitters and having now had the advantage of playing a match, any rustiness should surely be shaken off.

Pakistan's T20 record over the last two years is moderate having won 10 of their T20 matches and seven out of 13 in the last year. Whatever happens, it'll be a clash to savour for the neutrals.

Key players

India

It’s a phrase that might get tired soon, but Rohit Sharma seems to be India’s most consistent batsman at the moment. In the last 12 months he has scored 410 runs in nine T20s for India. Those runs have come at an average of 45.55 and included two fifties and a hundred. Sharma is India’s “go-to” batsman and in a team full of star players, that takes some doing.

Pakistan

Nobody has scored more runs in T20s for Pakistan in the last year than Shoaib Malik. He might only average 29.20 (which is not that bad for T20s), but he has scored 292 runs in 11 fixtures. A calm head and a wealth of experience will make Malik a key man for Pakistan.

Squads

Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (Captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Anwar Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khurram Manzoor, Wahab Riaz, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Sami, Sharjeel Khan

India: MS Dhoni (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Harbhajan Singh, Pawan Negi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Parthiv Patel