Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson is of the view that whoever emerges as the winner of the India-Pakistan clash in the upcoming Asia Cup on August 28 will also win the competition.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sunday's clash at Dubai will see the resumption of the 'greatest rivalry' in the world of cricket when India and Pakistan open their Asia Cup Group A campaign. This will also be the first meeting between these two teams after facing off in the Men's T20 World Cup last year in the UAE, where Pakistan secured a 10-wicket victory over India, their first such win in Men's World Cups.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"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 on The ICC Review show.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Watson went on to say that he's got a strong feeling of India winning the tournament. "(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."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India have won 19 of the 24 T20Is since crashing out in the Super 10 stage of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup last year, and have thrived with a new batting approach under captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"My predicted winner is India (referring to current form). They're so strong and depending on what the conditions are, they can just adapt to conditions. So I think India (will win Asia Cup)," added Watson.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
At the same time, Watson was quick in not ruling out Pakistan's chances of winning the much-anticipated clash on August 28. "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."<\/p>\r\n\r\n