The star-studded Team India lock horns with the arch-nemesis Pakistan as Rohit Sharma-led side won the toss and opted to bowl first in the Asia Cup 2022 encounter on blockbuster Sunday (August 28).
In a big gamble, Rohit dropped Pant to accommodate designated finisher Dinesh Karthik in the India's playing XI. Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan have also been included in the final XI.
“{After the crowd roar subsided) Honestly, I don't think the toss is that important, we are just hear to play good cricket. We've played here in the IPL, so hopefully the pitch will be good. It was a tough call we had to take between playing Dinesh and Rishabh, Rishabh sadly misses out. And Avesh makes it as the third seamer. This is an important game for us, but as cricketers we don't want to think about the opposition, we just want to correct whatever mistakes we are doing. We are bowling first,” India skipper Rohit Sharma after winning the toss.
“We would have also been bowling first, but this is not in our hands. We will look to make a big score and see. Three fast bowlers, two spinners and a debut for Naseem Shah. There are a few new faces, and some old faces in that Indian team. We are trying to give it our best,” Pakistan captain Babar Azam said before the match.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been the two pillars of India's white-ball team for the past decade but having received a rude jolt at this very venue 10 months back during the T20 World Cup, the duo exactly know where they stand and what they need to do to turn the tables.
The last time both the teams played with each other was in the previous edition of the T20 World Cup where Pakistan hammered India by 10-wickets.
Pitch Report
"This is a proper turf pitch where there's a lot of grass. In this match, it's going to be more about bowling rather than batting. It's the same pitch as yesterday. All the grass is in clusters, that means the ball will definitely seam around. It won't be as much as yesterday but there will still be quite a bit for the fast bowlers. No-brainer, win the toss and bowl first," Sanjay Manjrekar and Wasim Akram analyse the pitch.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Dinesh Karthik(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh.
Pakistan (Playing XI): Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani.
