Dubai 4th September : Pakistan captain Babar Azam has won the toss, and opted to start the bowling against India in the second Super Four match of Asia Cup 2022 at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.India has included in Hardik Pandya (rested from the game against Hong Kong), Deepak Hooda and Ravi Bishnoi in their playing eleven in place of injured Ravindra Jadeja (out of the tournament due to a knee injury in the right), Dinesh Karthik and Avesh Khan, which means Rishabh Pant will continue to take wickets.
Pakistan in contrast, brought in the pacer Mohammad Hafnain in their squad in place of his fellow fast bowler Shahnawaz Dahani, who is out with a possible side strain.
“The dew may be an issue, which is why we’re bowling first.
We have lots of positives from the previous match with India.We need to be positive,” said Azam after winning the toss.
In the last encounter between the two teams in Group A last Sunday on the back of Hardik Pandya’s 3/25 , and unbeaten 33 off just 17 balls, with contributions from Jadeja (35 off 29 balls) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/26), India won in amazing fashion by five wickets and just two balls left.
India captain Rohit Sharma has said he would have chosen to bowl first.”But now we must play without fear and determine the best score on this field.Momentum is important in this game, and you have to be on the ball from the beginning, and do not fret about pressures from outside.
Injury is something we cannot manage, Jadeja has been ruled out and is now back in the country.It was a pain to pick the team.”
Prior to the toss, SanjayManjrekar stated that the pitch has an even cover of grass and he expected it to play in a true manner instead of two-paced.Wasim Akram however believes that there was more carry for fast bowlers, and that choosing to start bowling first following the winning of the toss will be the best option.
Playing XIs:
India: K.L Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Hasnain
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