(Cricket news) India’s slim chance of qualification relies on this match as they not only need to win against Scotland but they need to win big against them to stand any chance of progressing to the semi finals. Scotland on the other hand will be playing for pride, they have shown that they are capable of causing an upset, like we saw in the last match against New Zealand where they produced very gritty batting performances.

India finally got their batting strategy right, their goal was batting with relentless pressure and allowing the big hitters in the end overs to go all guns blazing. With Ashwin coming into the side it gave more wicket taking impetus for the Indian bowling lineup, in a tricky Dubai pitch Ashwin and Jadeja will again have to play a key role in getting a huge victory. The concern heading into the match would be the form of Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli as they need to start scoring runs and help the team increase their net run rate. The positive for India last match was the return to form by Hardik Pandya, his elbow was a cause of concern briefly but he went to bowl a couple overs afterwards indicating the injury wasn’t serious and also giving the team management an option of a sixth bowler.

Scotland will take a lot of positives from their performance against New Zealand as they batted brilliantly against a very good bowling line up. For Scotland there will be slight concern as their star bowler Josh Davey may not be available for this important clash, this puts pressure on Bradley Wheal and Safyaan Sharif to take crucial wickets. Michael Lesk will again be on the spotlight after he scored 42*(20) against New Zealand, giving the much needed momentum they needed in their batting line up. For them to pull off an upset, they need the likes of Kyle Coetzer and Calum MacLeod to step up, as they so far have failed to create an impact in the T20 World Cup.

Head to head: India are yet to play Scotland in a completed T20I, only for the game to be washed out without a ball bowled.

Pitch and weather report: The toss again is set to play an important role in the match result as Dubai heavily favours the team chasing. The spinners will again have a massive say as the old ball will tend to grip a bit more and it won’t be a surprise if India go in with three spinners. The temperature is going to be around 32 degrees, the temperature is going to drop as the evening progresses, with dew being a factor in the second innings.

Also read: Bangladesh out of ICC T20 World Cup with 5th consecutive loss

Probable XI for India:

1 KL Rahul, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Probable XI for Scotland:

1 George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer (capt), 3 Calum MacLeod, 4 Richie Berrington, 5 Michael Leask, 6 Matthew Cross (wk), 7 Chris Greaves, 8 Mark Watt, 9 Safyaan Sharif, 10 Alasdair Evans, 11 Brad Wheal