Finally, the wait is over – Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field first against Rohit Sharma-led India at Dubai International Stadium. The action will begin in 25 minutes time.
Babar Azam: We would have also been bowling first, but this is not in our hands. We will look to make a big score and see. Three fast bowlers, two spinners and a debut for Naseem Shah. There are a few new faces, and some old faces in that Indian team. We are trying to give it our best.
Rohit Sharma: Honestly, I don’t think the toss is that important, we are just here to play good cricket. We’ve played here in the IPL, so hopefully, the pitch will be good. It was a tough call we had to take between playing Dinesh and Rishabh, Rishabh sadly misses out. And Avesh makes it as the third seamer.
“This is an important game for us, but as cricketers we don’t want to think about the opposition, we just want to correct whatever mistakes we are doing. We are bowling first.
PITCH REPORT:
“This is a proper turf pitch where there’s a lot of grass. In this match, it’s going to be more about bowling rather than batting. It’s the same pitch as yesterday. All the grass is in clusters, that means the ball will definitely seam around.
“It won’t be as much as yesterday but there will still be quite a bit for the fast bowlers. No-brainer, win the toss and bowl first,” Sanjay Manjrekar and Wasim Akram said for the pitch report:
3km queue to get in. Layers of security. Plenty of do’s and don’t for fans. No water bottles. No power banks. Yet no one really minds this. pic.twitter.com/xWW1hETTSa
— Shashank Kishore (@captainshanky) August 28, 2022
Pakistan’s Playing XI: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani
India’s Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh
When: Asia Cup 2022 Group A 2nd Match; 07:30 PM IST
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium
Head to head: In Asia Cups, India have been a dominant force to reckon with. The Men in Blue have an 8-5 win-loss record against Pakistan. Out of the six matches, India have won five Asia Cup matches held between the two sides since 2010
Hasan Ali handed the T20I cap to Naseem Shah.
🗣️ “Happy to represent Pakistan in all formats”@iNaseemShah will be making his T20I debut today against India 👏#AsiaCup2022 | #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/cc9IDCEGhk
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 28, 2022
Besides, Indian Head Coach Rahul Dravid, who tested negative for COVID-19, joined the team in Dubai.
Meanwhile, interim coach, VVS Laxman who was present with the team in Dubai, will oversee India A programme in Bengaluru.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Ravi Bishnoi
Pakistan Squad: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Haider Ali
