The highly-anticipated Asia Cup 2022 is all set to get underway from August 27 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The marquee event was originally scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka, but due to political and financial crisis in the country, the multi-team tournament was shifted to UAE. All the teams have named their squad and begun preparations in the gulf nation.
Ahead of the 20-over competition, former Australia cricketer Shane Watson has predicted the winner and backed India to win the Asia Cup 2022. Watson also shared his thoughts regarding the India-Pakistan clash, stating although the Babar Azam-led side would be confident, but the Men in Blue are 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,” said Watson while speaking to Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review show.
“[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 also mentioned that Pakistan, especially after their win over India in the T20 World Cup 2021, would be confident to take on 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 further.
