(Cricket news) The T20 World Cup Super 12s have officially kicked off. India and Pakistan will both start their campaign with a mega clash at the MCG. India won their warm up match against Australia while their 2nd warm up encounter was rained out. Pakistan on the other hand were defeated by England in the first warm up encounter. In the 2nd one they managed to restrict Afghanistan to 154 before rain played spoilsport. The rain forecast for Sunday isn't too positive as there will be showers during the game. Fans will be hoping to see some action and a result in this mouth watering clash. Both the teams will be determined to win this tournament after the disappointment of the Asia Cup but neither are pre-tournament favorites. 

India's ideal playing XI:

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal

Bench:

Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Arshdeep Singh

It is more clear than ever that Dinesh Karthik is the first choice gloveman in this format and Rishabh Pant will have to wait for his opportunity on the bench. Which bowler to leave out is also going to be a difficult choice but the trio of Shami, Harshal and Bhuvneshwar looks pretty well balanced. Yuzvendra Chahal ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin would also be pretty reasonable as Australia have only two left handers, Also the MCG is more suited to wrist spinners. The rest of the lineup picks itself with Axar and Hardik as the two all-rounders.

Pakistan possible playing XI:

Babar Azam, Mohammed Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Mohammad Nawaz,  Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf

Bench:

Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain

Shaheen Afridi is back and judging by the way he has bowled in the warm up matches, he is on fire. The seamer was the reason for India's loss in the last T20I World Cup and this time around he will be looking to do the same. Shan Masood would've been in the playing but there are reports of him being hospitalized which makes his availability in doubt. Shadab Khan will be key in the middle overs against Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav. A lot will depend on Babar and Rizwan when it comes to batting while Fakhar Zaman will also be very important.

Also read: Takeaways from the Blockbuster 2022 T20 World Cup group stage