It’s the second match of the 2022 Asia Cup and if you’d like some top India vs Pakistan betting tips, you’re about to get them of what is the biggest match in international cricket, bar none.
It’s arguably the biggest match in sport full stop.
Our online cricket betting analysis of this match also includes the team’s recent form, the team news, the pitch report and everything else you need to know before the teams go to battle at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, August 28 with a start time of 7.30 pm IST.
So keep reading and you’ll be fully armed with all the info you need.
My cricket betting tips are below and I have Pakistan as the bet to win this one. I’ll explain why they’re a fine example of betting value and why this could be a lot closer than the odds suggest.
There’s also the toss winner market and a third bet at bigger odds than usual; the one today features Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.
So, keep on reading and you’ll find out who we’ve gone for.
Recommended Bet: Back Pakistan to win @ 2.92 with Pure Win.
This match is a perfect example of betting value. The question with betting should never be: who’s more likely to win the match? What it should be is: are either of the teams available at bigger odds than what they should be?
If the answer is ‘no’ then just don’t bet it. If the answer is ‘yes’, then do bet. And Pakistan must surely be considered value at 2.92 to win this match.
That’s an implied probability of 34.2%. If they played the match 100 times, would Pakistan win it more than 34 times? Probably.
For starters, if Pakistan win the toss and bat second (see venue and conditions section) they have at least a 50% chance of winning, probably more.
It’s also worth remembering Pakistan beat them at the World Cup, although admittedly India are 7-2 up on the head-to-head.
And if Pakistan are definitely missing star bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi and maybe Mohammad Wasim as well then India are also missing Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel, so that evens things out.
All in all, the odds should be much closer so we have to go with Pakistan.
Why not read our Pure Win review? Here you’ll find out what makes this one of the top betting sites for Indian customers.
Recommended Bet: Back Babar Azam to score a 50 @ 3.0 with Betway.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is just about the most consistent T20 player in the world. And if you want proof of that, just look at the ICC T20I rankings: he’s ranked number 1.
He averages 45 in T20I cricket and has 26 fifties in 74 matches to go with a solitary century and scored an excellent unbeaten 68 against India at the last World Cup, evidence he can score big runs against India.
He doesn’t take too many risks, which in this case, is a good thing. That’s because we don’t need him to score quickly for the sake of this bet, we just need him to get to 50.
Following their disappointment at last year’s World Cup, where back-to-back losses against Pakistan and New Zealand saw them eliminated in the Group Stages, they’ve been excellent.
They’ve won just about every Series they played since the World Cup, including beating England in England and absolutely thrashing the West Indies in the Caribbean.
During that period they’ve played around 30 different players so have certainly experimented a lot in order to find their best XI.
But right now, they’re quite far away from knowing who their best XI is. For starters, the debate about whether Virat Kohli and whether he should be in the team rages on.
The smart money is on him playing here in the Asia Cup. If he plays well, he plays at the World
Cup. If he doesn’t, that might be it for him in terms of T20Is for India.
They’re missing Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel through injury, while Mohammad Shami was left out through choice.
The toughest choice is probably between Deepak Hooda or Dinesh Karthik at number seven.
They’re likely to pick two spinners from the four in the squad with Ravindra Jadeja and Yuzvendra Chahal likely to get the nod ahead of Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi.
Pakistan have been just about the best side in the world over the past twelve months in T20Is, winning 11 out of 13 matches played.
One of the two they didn’t win was the semi-final of the 2021 World Cup, somewhat unlucky to go down to eventual champions Australia, who were fortunate to chase in conditions perfect for chasing and benefited from a freak innings from Mathew Wade.
Their only other defeat was also against Australia, in April this year, in Lahore.They failed to defend 163.
Other than that, they won all their Group matches at the World Cup before that semi-final, beat Bangladesh 3-0 away and the West Indies 4-0 at home.
But they’ll have to do it without their best bowler in Shaheen Shah Afridi, who is out injured.
And they may also have to go to battle here without fellow fast bowler Mohammd Wasim, as well.
He has a back complaint and they may leave him out for this game and save him for later in the tournament.
Pakistan’s Likely XI
Azam, Rizwan, Zahman, Ahmed, K Shah, Asaf Ali, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, N Shah, Rauf, Hasnain.
India vs Pakistan Head-to-Head
The men in blue are way ahead in the India vs Pakistan head-to-head, winning seven out of the nine matches between them.
But crucially, Pakistan won the one that really mattered at last year’s World Cup and will have got great confidence from that given the magnitude of the occasion.
Venue & Conditions
The Dubai International Cricket Stadium hasn’t been used since last year’s World Cup.
Remarkably, the last four matches at the T20 World Cup all saw scores of between 172 and 176 being posted by the team batting first, so the par score is around the 175 mark.
The Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan match on Saturday should give us a good idea of how the wicket is playing but here’s what we do know: chasing is always an advantage here because of the dew factor so the side batting second will always be in pole position to win the game.
