India take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their Asia Cup 2018 match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Follow the live match updates:
# Playing XI:
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed(w/c), Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Usman Khan.
# Pakistan win the toss and opt to bat first
The eagerly awaited clash will see India meet Pakistan after a gap of almost 15 months. They last met in the ICC Champions Trophy final in 2017, where Pakistan had outplayed India.
India and Pakistan have faced each other 12 times in the Asia Cup. India have won six while Pakistan have managed to win five matches and one ended without a result.
Head to head In the One Day Internationals (ODIs), the arch-rivals have played a total of 129 games against each other. Pakistan lead the tally with 73 wins while India have emerged victorious in 52 matches.
Ahead of the clash, Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed said that there was certainly additional pressure due to the high-octane match but that would not affect how his team will approach the tie.
“There’s always pressure in India-Pakistan games. We’ve told our players, not just this game, consider every match as an India-Pakistan game if you want to win the event. There’s pressure, but we’re trying to not let it affect us, and perform well,” Sarfraz said in the pre-match press conference.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who is leading the team after regular skipper Virat Kohli was rested, also echoed similar views. “It’s always exciting to play Pakistan, but this tournament is not about one match alone,” he said.
Earlier, on Tuesday India registered a hard-fought 26-run win over Hong Kong in its Asia Cup opener. Pakistan had an easy outing against Hong Kong, beating the minnows by eight wickets.
Squad:
India: Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, K Khaleel Ahmed.
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shan Masood, Sarfraz Ahmed(c), Shoaib Malik, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan, Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Asif Ali, Mohammad Amir.
Source: Zee News