India will be taking on arch rivals Pakistan in a high octane clash at the ICC World Cup at Old Trafford in Manchester in a short while from now. The match is scheduled to begin at 3 pm (IST).
India have an overwhelming record against Pakistan at the showpiece event, winning all their six encounters against their sub continent rivals.
Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss and elected to bowl first in seaming conditions at Old Trafford.
Sarfaraz Ahmed: We will bowl first. It has been raining so conditions are good for bowling. We have quality spinners and we have backed them today. We are not thinking about 6-0.
Virat Kohli: We would have bowled first to be honest. Wicket looks really nice though and we have two wrist spinners in our team. We will be in good stead if we bat well.(On 800,000 applications for tickets and over a billion viewership for this match) That's the kind of attention this game brings but that's all is outside the ropes. Once you enter the field it is all about playing the game which you have played from the childhood. The team that holds their nerve in the big match usually wins. We have been playing good cricket and we don't want to tinker much with the team combination.
We have one forced change, Shikhar misses out and Vijay Shankar comes in his place.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli(c), Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni(w), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
Pakistan (Playing XI): Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed(w/c), Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir