Sports

Pakistan choose to bat first against India in must-win Champions Trophy clash

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Digital Desk

1 year ago

DUBAI: Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first against arch-rivals India in their Champions Trophy match against India in Dubai.

As a high-stakes game is on the line, fans from both countries have filled the venue in Dubai, while millions of fans are watching the match from their TV screens, which promises to be a thrilling contest.

Pakistan have one change since their last match against New Zealand, with Imam-ul-Haq replacing Fakhar Zaman as the latter has been ruled out of the tournament after being injured in Pakistan’s opening match in Karachi.

The Rohit Sharma-led side are unchanged since their last encounter against Bangladesh at the same stadium, which they won by six wickets.

On the toss, Muhammad Rizwan said that it looks good that is why we want to bat first and put a good target on the board,” the Pakistan captain said.

“The boys are familiar with these conditions and if you look in the past we did well in this ground but we want to do well today as well,” he added.

On the other hand, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma also expressed their commitment to winning the game, stating “We need an overall performance from the team, though not jus the bat or ball.”

“It’s a surface that looks similar to the last game here, looks on the slower side but we have to come out and bowl well,” the Indian captain said.

“The guys are experienced with the ball – they understand what needs to be done when the pitch gets slow.”

“We have seen scores of more than 300 chased in Pakistan but scoring under 300 here might be enough.”

Pakistan XI: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (captain, wicketkeeper), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.

India XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Mohammad Shami, Kuldeep Yadav.