The highly-anticipated Asia Cup 2022 is all set to get underway from August 27 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The marquee occasion was initially scheduled to happen in Sri Lanka, however attributable to political and monetary disaster in the nation, the multi-team match was shifted to UAE. All the groups have named their squad and begun preparations in the gulf nation.
Ahead of the 20-over competitors, former Australia cricketer Shane Watson has predicted the winner and backed India to win the Asia Cup 2022. Watson additionally shared his ideas concerning the India-Pakistan conflict, stating though the Babar Azam-led facet could be assured, however the Men in Blue are more likely to win.
“My predicted winner is India. That first game is going to be very special to watch because Pakistan have full belief now that they can beat this Indian team. I think, really, whoever wins that game is going to go on and win the Asia Cup,” mentioned Watson whereas talking to Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review present.
“[But] I’ve just got a feeling India [will win the tournament]. They’ve got so much firepower all the way through their batting order, so it’s going to be hard to be able to contain them,” he added.
Watson additionally talked about that Pakistan, particularly after their win over India in the T20 World Cup 2021, could be assured to tackle their rivals in the Asia Cup.
“I’m sitting on the fence a little bit! But I think Pakistan have a chance to win that game because of the confidence they’d have got out of winning for the first time in a long time against India. Their confidence is going to be flying high. India is hard to contain, especially their batting. But Pakistan, and as I’ve always known playing against them when their confidence is high, they’re nearly unstoppable. And their confidence is high now that they know they can beat India in a big tournament,” Watson added additional.