Asia Cup: India win toss, elect to bat against Pakistan

- September 2, 2023
| By : Patriot Bureau |

India feature three all-rounders in Hardik Pandya, Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja while Pakistan retain the XI that played Nepal

India won the toss and elected to bat in the Asia Cup Group A league match against Pakistan at the International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele, Sri Lanka.

While Pakistan had already announced that they will field the playing eleven, which featured in the Asia Cup opener against Nepal, India named their XI only at the toss bringing in three all-rounders, four specialist batsmen, one spinner and two pace bowlers.

Among the all-rounders, India have two pace-bowlers in Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur and one spinner in Ravindra Jadeja.

Ishan Kishan will keep wickets.

There was rain ahead of the match. However, the light drizzle stopped just before the toss.

This will be the first ODI between the two arch-rivals since the 2019 World Cup. India and Pakistan could play a further three ODIs over the next 44 days, including the much-hyped Cricket World Cup game in Ahmedabad on October 14.

Teams:

India’s playing XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

Pakistan’s playing XI: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.