Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team is all set to take on Mohammad Rizwan's Pakistan side in match 5 of the ongoing edition of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 which will be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, on February 23 (Sunday). It is a must-win game for Pakistan and they were dealt with a major blow as their top performer Fakhar Zaman was ruled out of the entire tournament due to an injury and he would not be able to take part in the high-octane clash against arch-rivals India.
Pakistan coach on Fakhar Zaman's absence
Ahead of the big clash against India, Pakistan coach Aaqib Javed praised Fakhar and called him a match-winner but emphasised that you cannot depend on a single player.
"There's no doubt Fakhar is a match-winner. But you can't depend on one player. But we will play a good team," said Aaqib Javed in the pre-match press conference on Feb 22.
The Indian team are coming into this match with a win over Pakistan and a 3-0 series win against England. On the other hand, The Men in Green suffered two brutal losses against New Zealand, first in the tri-series final and then in the mega tournament openers.
It is a must-win game for Pakistan, and the Indian side will also treat it as such, as it could ensure their spot in the semi-final of this marquee event. Both teams will be eyeing a crucial victory here. As for the Men in Blue, they need to work on taking wickets in the middle overs and hope Virat Kohli returns to scoring ways. Pakistan is dealing with the loss of their in-form batter, Fakhar Zaman.
PCB has announced Imam-ul-Haq as his replacement, but the team's batting performance has not been consistent. On the other hand, Shubaman Gill has smashed back-to-back ODI tons and will be looking to continue that form in the high-octane clash against their archrivals.
Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar.
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Khan, Kamran Ghulam, Faheem Ashraf.