Its unblemished record of success against the arch-rivals at the marquee ICC events a thing of the past, a hurt Indian team will be desperate for revenge against a high-quality Pakistan side in a sell-out Super 12 clash of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at MCG on Sunday. (More Cricket News)
The India vs Pakistan match can be seen live in India on Star Sports channels from 1:30 PM IST. The India vs Pakistan scorecard can be found HERE and ball-by-ball commentary HERE. While rain is threatening to play spoilsport, it’s unlikely to be a complete washout according to local people who understand weather conditions.
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Thousands of fans from both countries have crisscrossed the globe to watch their team in action and trust rival captains Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam to tell you this is another ‘match’ for them but all the 22 players and the reserves know that this is 'The Match'.
But a lot has changed in the past one year since Shaheen Shah Afridi in an intimidating opening spell gave Pakistan team its first victory in a World Cup across formats. It wasn't just a match won or a voodoo broken but that 3/31 by Shaheen was also successful in bruising the egos of some of contemporary cricket world's biggest batting stalwarts.
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While Rohit, Virat Kohli or KL Rahul aren’t the ones to forget last year’s humiliation in Dubai easily, the fact remains that India as a team has looked slightly under-cooked in recent times. And at least on Sunday, the 'Men In Blue' wouldn't start as favourites in the 'mother of all clashes'.
BCCI's statement that India will not travel to Pakistan to play the Asia Cup and the subsequent PCB threat of pulling out of 50 over World Cup in India has only made the atmosphere more politically charged and vicious.
India wouldn't mind going into a match as underdogs and it will be Pakistan, who will have to live up to the high expectations.
How India's top three handle Shaheen in the Powerplay would dictate how the match will pan out. One man, who could perhaps take Shaheen head on is India's current No. 1 batter Suryakumar Yadav, who is someone who never changes his game irrespective of conditions or situations.
But in wet conditions, Rohit would pray that lady luck will shine on him and he would win the toss and may be opt to chase when his bowling line-up looks a bit scratchy. While India have three spinners in the line-up, there could be only one playing in the end if the persistent rains and a sharp dip in temperature, makes the conditions seamer-friendly.
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In that case, an out of form Harshal Patel, with decent batting skills might be back in the scheme of things. But with three left-handers – Shan Masood/Fakhar Zaman, Mohammed Nawaz and Khushdil Shah, a bowler who can turn it away is always going to be in the mix. Hence Ravichandran Ashwin can never be completely out of equation.
On Sunday, the only factor that puts Pakistan slightly ahead is Shaheen, who is slowly reaching close to his best. It is after nearly 37-and-a-half years that an India versus Pakistan clash has been scheduled at the MCG. First since the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship of cricket final took place.
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Head-To-Head
India boast a healthy 7-3 win-loss record against Pakistan in T20Is. One game ended in no result. In T20 World Cups, India have won four out of six matches against Pakistan. India’s only loss came in the previous edition.
When And Where To Watch India vs Pakistan, ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Cricket Match Live?
Star Sports has the broadcast rights for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Telugu and Star Sports 1 Kannada will live telecast the India vs Pakistan match. Live streaming of India vs Pakistan match on Disney+Hotstar.
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Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel and Deepak Hooda.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammed Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Shan Masood, Mohammed Nawaz, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammed Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammed Hasnain.
(With PTI inputs)
