Melbourne: India is set to start their T20 World Cup campaign with a fiery fight against their all-time arch-rivals Pakistan.
In the Melbourne Cricket Ground, thousands of spectators will gather to witness the clash of two neighbouring countries charged with emotions.
One side would be the team having the cricket greats like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Mohammad Shami while other side is star-studded with Shaeen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
It was in Asia Cup 2022, when two sides had met earlier this year and Indian side managed to clinch victory.
Before the clash, India captain Rohit Sharma had said, “If the situation demands that it’s a shorter game, we will be ready for that, as well. A lot of the guys have played such kinds of games before, and they know how to manage themselves in a situation like that where you are getting ready for a 40-over game and then suddenly it’s a 20-over game for both sides, 10 overs each or 5 overs each. Luckily, we played one game in India against Australia which was an 8-over game.”
Showing belief in his side, India captain Babar Azam also said, “He’s played here and he knows the conditions here, it’s his home ground in the Big Bash League. So he’s passed on quite a bit of information to the bowlers, and to the batters too. The way he’s improved as a bowler, the way he’s leading. He didn’t let us feel the pinch of Shaheen’s absence. And he’ll be a big help.”
India vs Pakistan Probable XI:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shan Masood, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi
