Asia Cup Super Fours: India Elects To Bowl First Against Pakistan

India welcomed Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy back into the squad as captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and chose to bowl first against Pakistan in their Asia Cup Super Fours clash at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

The two sides last met in a Group A match at the same venue, where India defeated Pakistan by seven wickets.

The encounter drew attention as no Indian player shook hands with their Pakistani counterparts, causing discontent within the Pakistan team, which almost considered withdrawing from the tournament.

After winning the toss, Suryakumar confirmed that Bumrah and Chakaravarthy replace Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana. Axar Patel is also fit to play after recovering from a head injury sustained during India’s final Group A game against Oman in Abu Dhabi.

“Looks like a nice track, and yesterday there was dew. Since the first round, we were thinking we’re playing a knockout tournament; nothing has changed. That was a completely different wicket (in Abu Dhabi). Quite normal, just another game,” Suryakumar said.

Pakistan Announces Playing XI Changes

Pakistan captain Salman Agha said that Faheem Ashraf and Hussain Talat replace Hasan Nawaz and Khushdil Shah in the team.

He added, “Would’ve bowled first as well. It’s a new game, a new challenge. The mood is very normal. Pitch looks to be on the slower side. Want to start well with both bat and ball.”

Just like in their previous encounter, Suryakumar and Salman did not shake hands at the toss. Andy Pycroft will continue as the match referee for the game in Dubai.

India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed

Also Read: Suryakumar Yadav Inspires Oman Players With Motivational Talk After Asia Cup Clash