India vs Pakistan Prediction: Agha and Haris with lively chances at 13/2 and 11/2

Jamie Pacheco previews Pakistan's opening match at the Asia Cup, up against Oman, played in Dubai on Friday with a start time of 15:30, and live on TNT Sports.  

One cricket tipster hasn't found too much of interest in the betting markets so just the one wager in this one as he gives us his top Pakistan vs Oman Prediction...  

*You can check out the Cricket Odds from all of our Cricket Betting markets over on betfred.com

India  

Their first match resulted in an absolute hammering of the UAE, dismissing them for 57 and chasing that in four and a half overs.  There are a couple of sides at this tournament who simply can't compete with the likes of India, resulting in overly one-sided contests. Yes, these sides will only improve for playing far better teams, but it doesn't make for a great spectacle on the day. 

India sprang a big surprise on Wednesday, playing Sanju Samson as their wicketkeeper with a place in the middle-order when just about everyone expected Jitesh Sharma to play ahead of him.  

They've also kept faith in Shivam Dube, a part of that T20I World Cup-winning side and from time to time he'll also be asked to bowl, as he did against the UAE, picking up 3-4 from just two overs. Remarkable figures, but he wasn't exactly up against Jos Buttler and Travis Head, was he?   

Once again, India have decided to play three frontline spinners in a big tournament- Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy – and of those it was Yadav who shined against the UAE with 4-7 off just 2.1 overs, truly ridiculous numbers.  

In reply Abishek Sharma teed off from the very first ball, depositing it in the stands on his way to 30 off 16. They're likely to play the same side again.  

Pakistan  

A lot of what we said about India's match also applies to Pakistan's first match, the only difference being that Pakistan batted first in that one, getting to a decent 160, before dismissing an out of their depth Oman for just 67.  

Mohammad Haris, the keeper, was promoted to three and repaid the faith with a valuable 66 off 43. Our man Fakhar Zaman- who we needed to get to just 25 and ended up on 23 not out after he lost the strike for the last over – added 23 off 16.  

There was no Haris Rauf last time but, in his absence, all six bowlers were in the wickets with opening bat Saim Ayub returning 2-8 off 2.  

It was as comfortable a win as you'll get in this format, but they'll still need to significantly improve if they're to be competitive against India, let alone win the game.  

Haris Rauf was benched rather than rested on Friday, but his express pace could be a big weapon for Pakistan here; they certainly need as many of those as they can get. If he plays, one of Abrar Ahmed or Sufiyan Muqueem is likely to be left out.  

Pitch and conditions

We're in Dubai for this one again. If India had batted first against the UAE, they may have come close to 200  whereas though Pakistan's score was always going to be too much for Oman to chase, they left at least 10 runs out there. 

170 or more batting first could be very competitive but as ever, remember that the advantage lies with the chaser as a result of the second-innings dew.  

Match Winner Odds

A reminder that this this is the biggest game in the sport of cricket and that there's much more at stake here than the points on offer. Losing the match certainly isn't disastrous for either side because they'd both be expected to win their third match, but it will certainly give the winning side a huge boost for the rest of the tournament.  

India's record against Pakistan is excellent In T20Is, with 10 wins from 13 clashes. It's even better when looking just at T20Is played at World Cups with six wins out of seven.  

I promised myself I'd go big on India at anything above 4/7, but odds of 2/7 (implied probability 77.8%) are short enough. And then some.  

With Pakistan out at 5/2 (28.65) you could make a case for backing them at that price and hoping they get to chase or waiting for the toss and backing them only if they do bowl first, with even 2/1 a fair in-running price. But we'll leave this market alone.   

*For all the latest and live India vs Pakistan Odds then head over to betfred.com 

Top Pakistan Batsman  

There's very little in the way of value in this match so it's interesting that two of the few prices that look too big to me are on the same market.  

The odds-compilers don't seem to have noticed that Mohammad Haris batted at three rather than six or seven last time out and that he top-scored with an impressive 66. The 11/2 on him looks big.  

As does the 13/2 on skipper Salman Agha, who has good career numbers. With Haris batting at three and Agha likely to bat at five, backing both gives you two bites of the cherry at two classy players, on a tricky wicket, who might well be at the crease much earlier than Pakistan would have liked, especially if Jasprit Bumrah creates havoc with the new ball.