India have brought in Hardik Pandya (rested from the previous match against Hong Kong), Deepak Hooda and Ravi Bishnoi in their playing eleven in place of injured Ravindra Jadeja (out of the tournament due to right knee injury), Dinesh Karthik and Avesh Khan, meaning Rishabh Pant will keep wickets.
Pakistan, on the other hand, got in pacer Mohammad Hasnain in their playing eleven, replacing fellow fast bowler Shahnawaz Dahani, who is out due to a suspected side strain.
“The dew could be a factor, that’s the reason we’re bowling first. We had a lot of positives from the last match against India. The message is to play positively,” said Azam after winning the toss.
In the last meeting between these two teams in Group A match last Sunday, on the back of Hardik Pandya’s 3/25 and unbeaten 33 off 17 balls, with contributions from Jadeja (35 off 29 balls) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/26), India won in thrilling fashion by five wickets and two balls remaining.
India skipper Rohit Sharma said he would have opted to bowl first too. “But now we need to play freely and assess a good score on this pitch. Momentum counts in this format, you’ve to be on the money from the start, not worry about external pressures. Injury is something we can’t control, Jadeja has been ruled out and he’s back home. It was a headache to select the playing XI.”
Before the toss, Sanjay Manjrekar said the pitch has an even covering of grass and expected it to play true, instead of two-paced. Wasim Akram, on the other hand, felt there should be more carry for the fast bowlers and that opting to bowl first after winning the toss should be ideal.
Playing XIs:
India: K.L Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Hasnain
–IANS
nr/bsk