Asia Cup Final: Will Hardik Pandya's Injury Force a Change in India's Predicted XI vs. Pakistan?

India and Pakistan are set to lock horns for the first time in the history of the Asia Cup final on Sunday, September 28 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The sides have been the best two teams of the tournament as India have won all of their fixtures in the continental event. On the other hand, Pakistan have only lost against India and beaten all other teams in the tournament, which sets up an epic game between the arch rivals in the summit clash.

However, ahead of the fixture, India were given a wake-up call in their last Super 4 fixture against Sri Lanka as their poor fielding and bowling almost resulted in a loss. Apart from that, the team also suffered an injury scare as all-rounder Hardik Pandya walked off the field after bowling just one over in the match.

Pandya dismissed Sri Lankan opener Kusal Mendis in the first over but was seen holding his thigh at the end of the over and subsequently left the field. While the head coach, Morne Morkel, revealed that the seam all-rounder was just suffering from cramps, he mentioned that a call on his availability for the final will be taken on match day.

If Pandya ends up missing the all-important fixture, the Indian team combination will take a major hit as India will have to play an extra batter to strengthen their batting at the cost of reducing their bowling strength. On the other hand, there were a couple of issues with Tilak Varma and Abhishek Sharma as well, who pulled their muscle in the field.

The duo may have also suffered cramps while fielding in the scorching heat and are likely to be available for the fixture. All in all, all Indian players are available for selection in the final, and the management will look to field the same playing XI as their fixture against Bangladesh. However, if Pandya fails to be fit, the management will have to bring in Arshdeep Singh to bowl alongside Bumrah with the new ball.

India Predicted XI: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya/Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy