The whole of cricketing world watches with a lot of excitement when India takes on their arch-rivals Pakistan in a major ICC event. The two rival teams will take on each other in the Champions Trophy clash at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Sunday.
It will be a do-or-die contest for Pakistan as they lost their opening game against New Zealand. We look at the current form, head-to-head, players to look out for, and squads of both teams in our match preview.
Current form of Pakistan: L L W L W
Pakistan would need to bounce back stronger after losing their opening game. After that loss, Pakistan’s pace battery needs to execute their plans in the death overs whereas the batting unit needs to show more intent. The experienced players will need to step up for the team.
Current form of India: W W W W L
India was brilliant with the ball against Bangladesh but their fielders could not back the bowlers as they dropped three chances. Shubman Gill scored a match-winning knock whereas Mohammed Shami bagged a five-wicket haul. However, India will want more consistent performances from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Head to Head: Matches: 135, Won by Pakistan: 73, Won by India: 57, No Result: 5.
Players to watch out for: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, and Salman Ali Agha will hold the key for the hosts.
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, and Hardik Pandya will be the crucial players for India.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
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