(Cricket news) This will be Pakistan’s first encounter with the Men in Blue in India for more than seven years, despite the fact that they have been the more successful team in their head-to-head record since 1957.
India come into this match with a lot of enthusiasm, having defeated Afghanistan handily in midweek at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, restricting them to 272-8 and chasing down the total in just 35 overs with eight wickets remaining.
In addition to leading his team from the front, captain Rohit Sharma achieved his seventh World Cup ODI century, becoming the only player in history to do so, with 131 runs off just 84 balls.
Virat Kohli, who replaced the skipper, provided ample backing for the captain by scoring 55 off 56 balls. Kohli is still in fantastic form after winning the match against Australia the week before.
In the final encounter, Jasprit Bumrah led the way with the ball after the spinners dominated the opening game against the Wallabies. With 4/39 in his 10 overs, he moved up to second place in the race for the most wickets taken.
India will go into this game with their tails up, even though they won’t take anything for granted because they destroyed Pakistan by a mammoth 228 runs in the Super Four to win the Asia Cup just a month ago.
Pakistan will view this encounter as the ideal chance to get revenge on their longtime rivals, India, as the setback represented their fourth straight defeat in one-day internationals since September 2018.
The Men in Green’s confidence will also be at an all-time high following their run chase of 345 in their most recent game against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad on Tuesday, which broke the record for most ODI World Cup runs.
After Babar Azam failed to score in the tournament thus far, Abdullah Shafique and Mohammed Rizwan came through with significant scores of 113 and 131 not out, respectively, to give their team a flawless two-from-two start.
In any case, it was a fantastic way for young Shafique to commemorate the occasion as he was participating in his first-ever World Cup match in any format. Pakistan now has the assurance that they have a dependable batsman at the top of the order, which has been a source of frustration for them in recent years.
On the other side, Pakistan’s bowling arsenal has not yet demonstrated the kind of devastating form to which we have been accustomed. It remains to be seen how they will do on this spin-friendly surface against an Indian attack that includes Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav.
Despite having joined the team in Ahmedabad, Shubman Gill is still recovering from dengue fever, and sources suggest that he is still a serious doubt to start for the Indian batsmen.
It would not be shocking if India entered this match unaltered given their recent results; but, Mohammed Shami might slip into the starting lineup after Mohammed Siraj was dismissed for 76 runs in his nine overs against Afghanistan.
Imam-ul-Haq may be dropped for this match after failing to provide an innings of any significance in the previous two games. This would allow Fakhar Zaman to rejoin Shafique at the top of the order.
The Green Shirts can anticipate Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed to be their spin options, while Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali will share the new ball.
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