(Cricket news) India and Pakistan will meet in the Asia Cup once again but this time the stakes are higher. India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka have qualified for the Super 4 stage of the competition. The four teams will play each other once and the top 2 teams on the table will play the final. The 2nd Super 4s match is the mega clash between India and Pakistan. The last time these two sides met a week ago, India won in a last over thriller. Both the teams then went on to beat Hong Kong comfortably to qualify for the next round. This time around a loss will have a much worse effect on a team's chances to make it to the final which means there will be extra pressure. The match will once again be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

India's possible playing XI:

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh.

Bench:

Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Ravi Bishnoi, Ravichandran Ashwin

India have suffered a massive blow as Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury. Axar Patel has been added to the squad and he should be in the playing XI as he is a direct reply for Jadeja. Deepak Hooda and Ravichandran Ashwin can play that role but Ashwin's batting and Hooda's bowling are way inferior to that of Axar. The absence of Jadeja can also affect the selection of the wicket keeper. In the first match against Pakistan, India went with Karthik ahead of Pant but now that Axar is playing instead of Jadeja, India may want to go with Pant. Jadeja was good enough to bat at number 4 to get a left hander in the middle which Axar isn't. Therefore India may look to play Pant to get a left hander at number 4 or 5. Hardik Pandya who was rested in the last match should also be back in the side.

Pakistan possible playing XI:

Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani, Naseem Shah. 

Bench:

Asif Ali, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali

Pakistan have gone with the same XI in both the matches and they have no reason to change things. Babar Azam is yet to fire in this tournament and he wont get a better opportunity than this. Pakistan's bowling attack is incredible even without Shaheen Afridi but they just need to be more ruthless. Pakistan need to bat with more aggression right from the start and take advantage of the batting depth that they have.

The team that wins this match will get a massive advantage in this stage of the tournament. The toss will not be too important but the winning captain will be looking to bowl first. Chasing seems to be the winning formula in this tournament so far. Fans will be hoping to see another close encounter to set the tone for the final stages of the tournament. The battle between Naseem Shah and India's top order will be interesting to see once again. Yuzvendra Chahal is yet to take a wicket in this tournament and he will come into the game more motivated.

Also read: Why Indian management is being extra careful with Hardik Pandya