A classic contest between Pakistan's bowling and India's batting

Dubai - The final will be a contest between Pakistan's strong bowling and India's solid batting.

It is going to be a great and fantastic final, irrespective of the result. India have been performing well over the last couple of years and are a good side. But it will not be a one-sided final and there will be a fine contest between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan's bowling is their strongest point. They have some dangerous bowlers like Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali and Junaid Khan. Hasan Ali is the top wicket taker in the Champions Trophy and Amir is back to being his best. Junaid too is strong and has been taking wickets.
 

Pakistan also have a good opener Fakhar Zaman. He is quite an aggressive player and that has helped Pakistan get some quick runs at the top of the order. He already has two half centuries in three innings.
The Champions Trophy final will be a contest between Pakistan's strong bowling and India's solid batting.
Pakistan has quite a few youngsters in the team and they have been playing well under the leadership of new captain Sarfraz Ahmed. There are senior players like Shoaib Malik too who is one of their pillars in the middle order. Sarfraz has turned out to be a strong and attacking skipper ever since he took over the captaincy. I played against Sarfraz in Dubai three years ago and even though he wasn't the Pakistan captain then, he was quite an aggressive player and showed those attacking instincts. We were in opposite teams with him turning out for Grand Midwest, while I was playing for Danube. And it was a good contest against him and he performed really well.
He has shown the same aggressive and attacking qualities since being appointed captain. He has rallied this team and taken them to the final. It is an astonishing achievement that a team ranked eighth in the world has managed to reach the final.
Meanwhile, India are an experienced side and the core of their team has remained the same over the last couple of years. It is a very, very strong batting line-up with them batting down till eight or nine. Their line-up has remained more or less unchanged over the years which speaks for their consistency.
Personally, as a cricketer, I feel India are the overwhelming favourites, but as a Pakistani, I would like to see Pakistan win the title.
I would like to wish the best of luck to both the teams and I would like to see a grand final.
(As told to James Jose)

• ICC Champions Trophy 2018