Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly feels the contest between arch-rivals India and Pakistan will be between two equals when they face each other in Asia Cup 2018.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of an event, Sourav Ganguly said, “It will be a 50-50 contest between India and Pakistan.”

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India have a 6-5 win-loss ratio against Pakistan at the Asia Cup and the Rohit Sharma-led side would look to continue the momentum on Wednesday.

Asked if regular captain and star batsman Virat Kohli’s absence would be a factor, Ganguly said, “Virat Kohli’s absence won’t be a factor, they are a better side.”

India are the most successful side in the Asia Cup, having won the title a total of six times, while Pakistan have won twice.

The men in blue begin their campaign against Hong Kong on Tuesday, while Pakistan beat the same opponents by eight wickets on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Pakistani cricketers Younis Khan and Aamer Sohail have backed the Sarfraz Ahmed-led Pakistan team to beat India.

Former Pakistan skipper Younis Khan believes his side have some very good players in their ranks, who will help Pakistan in defeating India in the first meeting between the two sides after a gap of 15 months. India and Pakistan had last faced each other in the Champions Trophy 2017 final, which later won by a massive margin of 180 runs.

“I am optimistic that Pakistan will beat India in the Asia Cup as they will go into the tournament with a positive mindset and have some very good players,” Younis Khan told reporters in Quetta.

Aamer Sohail, who played 156 ODIs and 47 Tests between 1990 and 2000 for Pakistan, feels that familiarity with the conditions will give Pakistan an edge over their Asian rivals.

“India and Sri Lanka are tough teams and good competition is expected from them but Pakistan will definitely have an upper hand against all teams as they have played in the UAE more than any other team,” Aamer was quoted as saying by ICC.

Teams:

India Squad: Rohit Sharma(C), Shikhar Dhawan (VC), KL Rahul, AT Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Kartik, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Y Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur and Khaleel Ahmed.

Pakistan Squad: Fakhar Zaman, Imam Ul Haq, Shan Masood, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Asif Ali, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, Muhammad Nawaz, Fahim Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Junaid Khan, Usman Shinwari, Shaheen Afridi

-With IANS inputs.