India vs Pakistan Asia Cup Super 4 2023 Playing XI: India and Pakistan will take to the field once again with their eyes on the sky as the arch-rivals meet for the second time in the Asia Cup on Sunday. After their group stage encounter was washed out, the two teams and their fans would be hoping that they get lucky a second time of asking even though is a forecast of heavy rains for this match as well.
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However, there is one catch for this encounter. In an unprecedented move that is going to raise plenty of eyebrows and add more chaos to the tournament, hosts Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that a reserve day has been allotted for the game in Colombo on Sunday – the only match in the Super 4 stage to get that treatment.
With KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah both returning to the fold, India have a team full of superstars which makes it a tad difficult for them to choose a playing XI. Here’s how they might line up against Pakistan on Sunday.
Bumrah, who had gone back to India for the birth of his child after the Pakistan match, is back after missing the match against Nepal and is sure to slot in seamlessly in the team. However, that means that India will have to sacrifice one of Mohammmad Shami or Shardul Thakur. Last time around in the match against Pakistan, the team had opted to use Thakur in place of Shami due to his all rounder abilities but the former could not contribute much with the bat. Against Nepal, Thakur did not bat but took just one wicket after bowling 4 overs.
Even though Rahul has returned and is reportedly batting well in the nets, Kishan will probably keep his place in the side due to his blistering 82 against Pakistan in the opening match. Additionally, with Rahul’s ability to keep for the full 50 overs being a concern because of a groin niggle he picked up while recovering from the original injury, Kishan might be the one preferred over him in this match.
Pakistan has retained the playing XI that did the duty against Bangladesh at Lahore. Pakistan will enter the match against India with a four-pronged pace attack that includes Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Faheem Ashraf.
Weather will again play key part in as it has done throughout the tournament. Heavy rain and thunderstorm is predicted on Sunday. The weather department is predicting at least 90 per cent chance of rain on Sunday. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) have kept a reserve day on Monday for the mercurial clash should the match be affected by rain and cannot be completed on Sunday.
The surface at the R Premadasa Stadium has always been two-paced. It isn’t particularly a batting-friendly wicket. There could be some juice for both seamers and spinners on Sunday too.
India predicted XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Pakistan playing XI vs India: Babar Azam (Captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf
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