Pakistan will beat India in Asia Cup: Younis Khan

Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan has put his weight firmly behind his side, saying that Pakistan has all the potential to repeat their Champions Trophy final’s performance against arch-rivals India in the upcoming Asia Cup in UAE.

Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan has put his weight firmly behind his side, saying that Pakistan has all the potential to repeat their Champions Trophy final’s performance against arch-rivals India in the upcoming Asia Cup in UAE.

Pakistan had staged a huge upset by beating favourites India to win their maiden Champions Trophy title last year in June and the Asian giants since then have never faced each other. The deadlock is set to be broken on September 19 when India locks horns with Pakistan in Dubai in the Group B match.

"I am optimistic that Pakistan will beat India in the Asia Cup as they will go into the tournament with a positive mindset and have some very good players," said Younis Khan.

The Former Pakistan captain also stated that the two countries must revive their cricketing ties to help pave the way for future interactions. "Pakistan and India should play more cricket matches against each other as this will help to ease tensions between the neighbours," said Younis.

Both India and Pakistan are in Group B along with qualifier Hong Kong. Pakistan begin their campaign against Hong Kong on September 16 while India will meet the same opposition on September 18 before they square off against each other on September 19.

Interestingly, there is a possibility three India-Pakistan matches in the Asia Cup. Two teams from each group will advance to the Super 4 stage where the four teams will face each other in a round robin format to determine the two finalists.

The Asia Cup begins on September 15 with the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka Group A match.