The cricket world comes to a standstill on Saturday, October 14 as two traditional rivals India and Pakistan lock horns to write another glorious chapter in the annals of the beautiful sport. The stage for the epic duel is the ODI World Cup 2023 and the venue is the Narendra Modi Stadium, the largest cricket stadium in the world.
The grandeur around the match is so captivating that it sometimes takes the attention away from what is at stake. Apart from bragging rights, the winning streaks of the two Asian giants in the ongoing edition of the marquee event are at stake.
India began with a comprehensive six-wicket win against Australia in Chennai. After bundling the former five-time champions for 199 on a slowish pitch, the ‘Men in Blue’ were in a precarious situation at 2/3 in their run-chase. However, Virat Kohli used all his experience and stitched a decisive 165-run partnership with KL Rahul to take India within touching distance. The former missed his well-deserved century by 15 runs but Rahul played till the end and finished the match alongside Hardik Pandya, with 52 balls left in the innings.
Carrying the momentum from this win, India crushed Afghanistan in the following match by eight wickets, chasing 273 runs in just 35 overs in Delhi, on the back of a scintillating century from skipper Rohit Sharma and an unbeaten fifty from Kohli. The bowling unit has also been rising to the occasion as Ravindra Jadeja was the star against Australia, finishing with a three-for. On the other hand, Jasprit Bumrah, who has been exceptional since his return from injury, scalped four wickets against the Afghans. Other bowlers have also chipped in and the fielding has also been top-notch.
Meanwhile, Pakistan have managed to overcome the scars from their underwhelming Asia Cup campaign, where they finished last in the Super Four stage, including a shambolic 228-run defeat to India. Babar Azam’s men had a jittery start to their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands. They recovered from a couple of mini-batting collapses to post 286 runs. In reply, Bas de Leede and Vikramjit Singh did give the ‘Men in Green’ a scare but Haris Rauf, in unison with his teammates, dashed the Dutch side’s hopes in the middle overs to win by 81 runs.
The second match that Pakistan played was against Dasun Shanaka’s Sri Lanka, who beat them in a last-ball thriller in the Asia Cup. The ‘Lankan Lions’ took the attack to the opposition bowlers and posted 344/9 in 50 overs. Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam, who are two of the most consistent batters for the former world champions, lost their wickets early in the chase.
However, Mohammad Rizwan and the talented Abdullah Shafique bailed their team from the spot of bother with a stunning 176-run partnership. Both players slammed their maiden ODI World Cup tons before Iftikhar Ahmed put the finishing touches to help Pakistan pull off the highest successful run-chase in World Cup history with 10 balls to spare.
Also Check: ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Points Table
IND vs PAK Pitch and Conditions
The Narendra Modi Stadium has 11 pitches – five black soil, five a mixture of three types of soil, and one a mix of two different soil. The three types of pitches on offer at the stadium play differently. The one used in the opening game between England and New Zealand was a belter, especially in the second half under the lights. Dew could play a vital role and the captains will surely plan accordingly before the toss. The weather forecast is mostly promising with temperatures around 30-35 degrees Celsius.
IND vs PAK, Probable Playing XIs for ODI World Cup 2023, Match 12
India
Shubman Gill, who missed the first couple of matches as he was diagnosed with dengue, returned to the nets on Thursday. He has a phenomenal record for India as well as for Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium. If Shubman is fit, he will open the innings alongside Rohit and Ishan Kishan will sit out.
Shardul Thakur replaced Ravichandran Ashwin in the playing XI for the game against Afghanistan and the Mumbai all-rounder didn’t do too much wrong. However, he is lilely to make way for the off-spinner while Mohammed Shami is expected to come in place of Mohammed Siraj given his experience of playing in Ahmedabad for the Gujarat Titans
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan/Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj/Mohammed Shami
Pakistan
Abdullah Shafique replaced the out-of-form Fakhar Zaman in the last game and scored an incredible century under pressure. The good thing about Pakistan is that they have won a couple of games without their talismanic skipper firing with the bat. This will give the other players a lot of confidence in their abilities. If Babar joins the party, Pakistan could be a very tough team to topple. They are likely to play the same XI from the last game.
Probable XI: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
IND vs PAK Head-to-Head in ODIs
| Matches Played | 134 |
| India Won | 56 |
| Pakistan Won | 73 |
| No Result | 5 |
| First Played | 1-Oct-1978 |
| Last Played | 10-Sep-2023 |
IND vs PAK Broadcast Details:
| Date | Saturday, October 14 |
| Timing | 02:00 PM (IST) |
| Live Streaming | Disney+ Hotstar app and website |
| Live Broadcast | Star Sports Network |
