Pakistan vs India, Asia Cup: Probable playing XI, form guide, stats, pitch, team news, player quotes

Focus of fans and the media is on MS Dhoni's fitness and Mohammad Amir's return.

New Delhi: Cricket world's most unique and fierce rivalry will be renewed on Saturday in Mirpur when MS Dhoni's India take on Shahid Afridi's Pakistan.

Apart from the impending duel, focus of fans and the media is on two things – Dhoni's fitness and Mohammad Amir's return.

There are several other factors on which the outcome of this match will hinge on. Here are some of them:

Possible playing XI for both teams:

India XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni (c & wk)/Parthiv Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra

Pakistan XI: Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shahid Afridi (c), Anwar Ali/Mohammad Nawaz, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Irfan

Form guide: India has won 4 and lost 1 of their last 5 completed matches, while Pakistan have lost 2 and won 3.

Pitch: The wicket is expected to facilitate good stroke play. The ball will come on nicely to the bat. However, batsmen will have to cautious of sideways movement of the ball early on.

Stats: In six T20Is, India holds the upper hand with 4 wins. Pakistan have won 1, while the first ever game in this format between the two teams was tied.

Team news: There are no injury concerns for Pakistan ahead of this high-octane clash, while the Indian camp will be worried with the fitness of their skipper. Ashish Nehra too was given time off from training on Friday.

Player quotes:

Shahid Afridi: Sports can always develop good relationship between countries. I think the Pakistani people want to see the Indians in Pakistan and vice-versa. We should not try to paint a political colour in sporting activities. Our government always took the first step in this regard.

Rohit Sharma: Yes, they have a formidable bowling attack but we would want to concentrate more on our strengths and prepare our plans accordingly. Our strength is batting and depending on the wicket we will have to focus on that. Every team has its own specialties. They have good left-arm seamers in their armoury while we have better spinners.