- By Himanshu Badola
- Sat, 14 Oct 2023 09:12 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
India vs Pakistan, ODI World Cup 2023: India and Pakistan are all set to produce high-class cricket when they face in match 12 of the ODI World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday, October 14.
The Men in Blue will look to extend their dominance over the arch-rivals in the ODI World Cups, having beaten them seven times in seven matches so far. The two teams last met in the 2019 edition where Pakistan suffered yet another loss in the rain-affected contest in England.
The Babar Azam-led side has nothing to lose in that context and can only better the record as they eye a victory on the rival soil while India will be aiming to go big in order to boost confidence by massively going forward in the tournament.
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Star opener Shubman Gill's inclusion in the all-important match remains doubtful who is recovering from illness. However, skipper Rohit Sharma said that it's almost 99 per cent that the young sensation will be featuring in the match against Pakistan.
The visitors will not only have the challenge on the field but off the field as well with 1,32,000 vociferous supporters turning in to see the game to support the Men in Blue. They need to soak in the pressure as soon as possible in order to do well in the match.
Skipper Babar Azam has only disappointed with the bat so far but Abdullah Shafique got a hundred in his maiden ODI World Cup game while chasing a record 345 against Sri Lanka. Mohammad Rizwan, who also notched up a century in that game, holds the key to leading the middle-order challenge alongside Saud Shakeel.
With the ball, Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has been below-par with the ball so far, will be aiming to leave a huge impact while running through a right-handed heavy India batting line-up.
India, with the ikes of the in-form batters Virat Kohli and KL Rahul have a slight upper hand when it comes to the batting department who can make a struggle for out-of-form spinners Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz.
On the other hand, Hardik, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja have been great with the ball, while they hope for Mohammed Siraj to be back in his elements quickly.
Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Wasim Jr.