India vs Pakistan needs no introduction. So much is at stake when these two sides meet in multi-nation tournaments, in addition to the bragging rights that come with victory.
However, will the weather be kind? The Colombo forecast looks ominous, but hope lies in the fact that Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were able to complete their match yesterday.
Should the weather hold, we could be in for a cracking contest. Pakistan look settled, while India are desperate for some meaningful game time. Shaheen Shah Afridi will be keen to get the better of India’s top order once again. His seam bowling partners were also excellent in the previous meeting, where they limited India to 267.
India’s approach and response in this game, where they are set to welcome back KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah, will be interesting to see. It is their first match of the Super Four stage, while Pakistan come into this clash off the back of a comfortable win over Bangladesh during the week.
India: 1. Shubman Gill, 2. Rohit Sharma (c), 3. Virat Kohli, 4. Shreyas Iyer, 5. KL Rahul (wk), 6. Hardik Pandya, 7. Ravindra Jadeja, 8. Shardul Thakur, 9. Kuldeep Yadav, 10. Jasprit Bumrah, 11. Mohammed Siraj
Pakistan have named an unchanged XI. Their main focus will be more penetration in the middle overs, where they have not been as effective so far in the tournament.
Pakistan: 1. Fakhar Zaman, 2. Imam-ul-Haq, 3. Babar Azam (c), 4. Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5. Agha Salman, 6. Iftikhar Ahmed, 7. Shadab Khan, 8. Faheem Ashraf, 9. Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10. Naseem Shah, 11 Haris Rauf
