ICC Cricket World Cup: High-flying India meet confident Pakistan
In what is being called the mother of all battles, India and Pakistan will battle it out in Match 12 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. An enticing contest is on the cards as both teams won their respective first two matches comprehensively. Not to forget, Pakistan have never beaten India in an ODI WC match. Here we look at the preview.
Pitch report, timing, and TV listing
The colossal Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host this duel on October 14 (2:00pm IST). The pitch here is unusually balanced and assists both the batters and the bowlers. Owing to the anticipated dew factor, the toss-winning skipper is likely to bowl. Star Sports Network will telecast the match live while fans can live stream on the Disney+ Hotstar app.
A look at their head-to-head record
Pakistan have lost all their seven previous ODI WC games against India. However, in terms of overall ODI record, the Men in Green are still ahead, having won 73 games and losing 56. The arch-rivals met in the Asia Cup last month as India claimed a massive 228-run win. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli smoked centuries in that duel.
Eyes on Shubman Gill's return
India's batting sensation Shubman Gill, who missed the first two games due to dengue, is reportedly recovering well. However, his participation for the Pakistan game is still not certain. Nevertheless, three of India's top-five batters have at least one fifty-plus score in the tournament. Meanwhile, Pakistan are struggling with skipper Babar Azam's poor run. Mohammad Rizwan has been sensational with the bat lately.
Here are the probable XIs
India probable XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj. Pakistan probable XI: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf.
Here are the key performers
Rohit Sharma, who smoked a sensational century in his last outing, now has most ODI WC tons (7). Kohli returned with half-centuries in the first two games. Jasprit Bumrah has scalped 18 wickets in 10 white-ball matches since returning from his injury. Rizwan has clocked 827 ODI runs this year at 75.18. Hasan Ali scalped six wickets in the first two games.
Dream11 Fantasy picks
Fantasy option 1: KL Rahul, Mohammad Rizwan (VC), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (C), Abdullah Shafique, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Shadab Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf. Fantasy option 2: KL Rahul (VC), Mohammad Rizwan, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Babar Azam, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Shadab Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammed Siraj.
