Pakistan won the toss and put India to bat first here at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo in the Super Four match of Asia Cup 2023. India have made one forced change to their playing eleven as Shreyas Iyer is ruled out due to back spasms and KL Rahul comes in as his replacement.
India and Pakistan have met each other 18 times in the continental tournament. In these matchups, India have secured victory in nine games, while Pakistan emerged triumphant on six instances, with three matches concluding without a definite result. The group stage match between India and Pakistan was called off due to rain, with both teams sharing one point each. India were bundled out at 266 in 48.5 overs with Hardik Pandya’s 87 and Ishan Kishan’s 82 helping the team post a decent target. However, rain played spoilsport and the match was called off without Pakistan facing a single ball.
The weather is way brighter, open with no big signs of rain though there are clouds. Notably, it did not rain during yesterday’s Super Four clash between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. “We will bowl first. I think there is a bit of moisture, we need to use that. Always, India Pakistan is high intensity, but we will take it match to match. As a team, we are playing well, we are focused on this one. No changes,” said Pakistan captain Babar Azam after winning the toss.
“Looking to bat first. There will be a challenge upfront, but the way we guys batted last time around gives us confidence. Every game is important for us, but one thing at a time to focus on. (On rain delays) That’s the nature of the sport, it gave us good time to prepare and now we’ll look to play well. Two changes – Bumrah is back and one forced change, Shreyas Iyer just got a back spasm so KL Rahul comes in for him,” said India captain Rohit Sharma after the toss. India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Pakistan (Playing XI): Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan(WK), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.
