• Source:JND
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India are set to start their Asia Cup 2023 against nemesis Pakistan at Pallekele Cricket Stadium in Kandy on Saturday. Ahead of the much-anticipated match of the tournament, the Rohit Sharma-led side posed for the headshot session on Friday.

India vice-captain Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Mohammad Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah were among the others to feature in the video posted by BCCI on X, formerly Twitter.

In a fun-filled headshot session in the Asia Cup jersey, wicketkeeper Kishan was heard pulling Gill's leg by saying, "Hass bhi le thoda, Gussa hai kya? Acche se has na, Sharma mat (Laugh a bit, are you angry? Laugh heartily, don't be shy)."

Axar Patel, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur were also seen having fun during the session.

In the video, Siraj said, "We have reached Sri Lanka and we are really excited for the Asia Cup. We have shot a few funny headshots."

India are facing Pakistan for the first time in the ODI format since the 2019 World Cup clash at Manchester. India defeated Pakistan by 89 runs in a rain-affected clash.

The two teams have faced each other four times in the T20Is after the last ODI World Cup clash.

In the 2021 T20 World Cup, Pakistan outclassed India by 10 wickets and ended their losing streak against India in the World Cups. In their next meeting in last year's Asia Cup, India defeated Pakistan in the group stage match but Pakistan bounced back in the Super 4 game to keep the record even.

In the last match between India and Pakistan, Rohit Sharma-led side overcame Babar Azam & Co. with the help of Virat Kohli's masterclass knock at Melbourne Cricket Ground in the 2022 T20 World Cup.

India will be without KL Rahul in the first two games of the competition as the wicketkeeper-batter is recovering from a niggle.

After taking on Pakistan, India will face the tournament's latest participant Nepal in Kandy on September 4. India, Pakistan and Nepal are placed in Group A while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan complete Group B. 

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