Pak vs India: Shaheen, Rauf rip through Indian top order

Star Pakistani pacers Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf ripped through the Indian top order after Rohit Sharma decided to bat first in the much-anticipated game of the Asia Cup 2023 played in Kandy.

Earlier, much to the disappointment of cricket fans everywhere, a rain spell played spoilsport during the India-Pakistan match in Kandy, Sri Lanka on Saturday.

The high-octane match promises to be a thrilling battle between the Pakistani pacers and Indian batters.

However, earlier fears that rain may disrupt the game materialised as the match was halted in the fourth over, with India already having made 15 runs.

The match was interrupted, once again, when India was 51-3 during the 11th over.

It must be noted that Pakistan began their Asia Cup 2023 campaign on a high note with a massive 238-run win over Nepal on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, this is India’s first match in the tournament.

Earlier, India won the toss and opted to bat first, and Indian captain Rohit Sharma said: “There is a bit of weather around but we cannot think about it too much.”

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“Embrace the challenge, embrace the situation. We had a six-day camp in Bangalore where we worked on our skills,” Sharma said.

“The Asia Cup is a quality tournament with quality teams. At the end of the day, we need to think about what we can do here.

“Since the last ODI series we played in the West Indies, we have got a few additions: Shreyas and Bumrah are back. Shardul is there. Hardik, of course. And Shardul is there. And two spinners in Kuldeep and Jadeja.”

Babar, on the other hand, said: “To be honest, we also wanted to bat first.”

“We have played a lot of cricket here in the last one and a half month, so we know the conditions.”

India have the upper hand against Pakistan with seven wins in 13 Asia Cup (ODI) matches. Meanwhile, Pakistan have won five with one match ending in no result.

Pakistan have also lost four of the last five matches against India in the Asia Cup, with their last win coming in Mirpur in 2014.

Playing XI

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain) Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf.

India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.