Asia Cup 2023: Shikhar Dhawan's Message To Team India Of 'Don't Lose To Pakistan' Removed By Star Sports

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India opener Shikhar Dhawan's message to his compatriots ahead of the upcoming Asia Cup 2023, where the team will face arch-rivals Pakistan, has been removed by Star Sports, the official broadcaster of the tournament.

Dhawan, who is currently out of reckoning from the national team set up, is still set to be part of the Asia Cup, scheduled to be held from August 30 to September 17 in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but in a new role.

The southpaw will be part of the expert panel for Star Sports as revealed in a video shared by the broadcaster on Monday (August 7). However, Star Sports without any reason has removed that post from social media.

The deleted video post on X was captioned: "Witness the passion and intensity of mother of all rivalries, India vs Pakistan through the eyes of @SDhawan25 and look what he has to say!"

In the deleted video, the 37-year-old opener spoke about the much-anticipate India vs Pakistan clash in Pallekele next month, also sharing an old message among Indian fans of do not lose to Pakistan irrespective of the result in the World Cup, but he added winning World Cup is also important.

"It has always been the case of 'Whether or not you win the World Cup, don't lose to Pakistan' (laughs). But winning the World Cup is also important and by god's grace hopefully we will," Dhawan had said in the deleted video.

Going by the comments, Star Sports may have uploaded the wrong video, meaning they posted the video meant for the World Cup build up instead of the teaser for the Asia Cup.

The veteran opener also shared about his own experience of playing in India vs Pakistan matches and also reminded that India has mostly never lost when he played in those encounters.

"There's definitely excitement but also a lot of pressure. There's definitely a satisfying feeling playing against them when the match ends. Whenever I have played Pakistan, we have won mostly. The intensity on the field is also high, but there's also some light chat with them," Dhawan added.

India could face Pakistan in at least three matches if not five if the results end in favour of both the sides in the Asia Cup and the World Cup. In Asia Cup 2023, India meet Pakistan on September 2 and could meet them again on September 10 in Super 4 round and possibly the final on September 17.

In the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, India and Pakistan face-off in the round-robin stage on October 14 and could possibly meet again in either the semi-final or the final of the show-piece event.