India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup 2021: Toss result and playing 11s, today's match umpires list and pitch report
Arch-rivals India and Pakistan will face off in the marquee clash of the T20 World Cup 2021 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday. Match 16 of the tournament will also mark the start of Group 2 clashes in the Super 12 round.
As every fan would know, India have never lost to Pakistan in a World Cup match, both 50 overs and T20Is. The rivalry, which began with a league clash during the 1992 World Cup in Sydney, has seen India being dominant even as personnel on both sides have changed. In the T20 World Cup, India have got the better of Pakistan five times, including in the dramatic 2007 final.
Virat Kohli’s men will be supremely confident, having crushed England and Australia in their two warm-up games. Pakistan beat West Indies in their first practice game but faltered against South Africa. For now, all that would matter is how they turn up against India.
IND vs PAK - Today’s match playing 11s
IND playing 11: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
PAK playing 11: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (w), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi
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IND vs PAK - Today's match opening batters list
Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul will open the batting for India. Rohit did not play the first warm-up before slamming 60 off 41 against Australia. Rahul has been in fine touch. He scored 51 off 24 against England and 39 off 31 against the Aussies.
Skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan will begin proceedings for Pakistan. While Azam scored 50 in the win against the Windies and 15 in the loss to South Africa, Rizwan had scores of 13 and 19 in the practice games.
IND vs PAK - Today's match pitch report
While the wicket is expected to be a decent one to bat on, dew is likely to play a role later in the day. Hence, both captains were keen to bowl first.
IND vs PAK - Today’s T20 World Cup match umpires
On-field Umpires: Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney
Third Umpire: Richard Illingworth
Match Referee: David Boon
IND vs PAK T20 World Cup toss result for today's match
Pakistan have won the toss and have decided to bowl first. They have left Haider Ali out of the XI.
Speaking after calling correctly, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said:
“We are going to bowl first. We'll look to take early wickets and put pressure. Dew is also a factor. We have had good practice sessions and am confident about our preparations. Pakistan's bowlers are known to trouble other teams but I am confident about our batting too.”
Babar Azam has won the toss and opted to field.
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Indian captain Virat Kohli admitted they would have fielded first but asserted that they have a balanced outfit to handle things. India have left Rahul Chahar, Ishan Kishan, R Ashwin and Shardul Thakur out of their playing XI.