Mohammed Shami (left) during the practice session; Ishan Kishan of India celebrates after scoring fifty. (PTI) Even though rain did play spoilsport during the India-Pakistan game on Saturday, it only called off the game after the Indian batters made their first outing of the tournament. That too against a full strength Pakistan pace attack, which managed to display why they’ve been touted as the best going into the World Cup as they claimed all ten Indian wickets.
FOLLOW OUR INDIA VS NEPAL LIVE BLOG HERE
With a month’s time left in the marquee tournament at their home turf, the ongoing continental tournament is expected to give a picture of how India can lineup in the former. As far as Monday’s fixture is concerned, India won’t be tampering too much with their playing XI with a win required against Nepal to qualify for the Super 4 stages.
While the Indian top order was rammed down by Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf in Pallekele, Ishan Kishan would step up in his role as no. 5, stitching a crucial stand with Hardik Pandya to bail India from 66/4 to 204/5.
Kishan, who finished as India’s top scorer in the West Indies ODI series, was moved to the middle order once captain Rohit Sharma returned for the Asia Cup. And with his counter attacking yet matured innings on Saturday, he seems to have locked that spot.
Even though Shreyas Iyer failed to impress on his return from injury, the team management is likely to give him a longer run. Kishan is also the team’s sole wicketkeeper in the absence of KL Rahul, who was confirmed to miss the opening two games at the Asia Cup by head coach Rahul Dravid.
One of the bigger talking points about India’s playing XI against Pakistan was the absence of Mohammed Shami. The team had gone in with an extra batting option in Shardul Thakur against a stern bowling attack.
With Jasprit Bumrah missing out after having travelled to Mumbai for the birth of his son, Shami is likely to slot right back into the playing XI.
It will be interesting though, to see if and when India look towards Axar Patel but with Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja both in XI, the need for an extra left arm orthodox is unlikely.
India vs Nepal Pitch Report
Pallekele’s pitch challenged batters on Saturday during the India vs Pakistan match. Given the overcast condition, there could be some juice for the seamers on Monday as well.
India vs Nepal Weather Report
The weather forecast for Pallekele is 80 per cent of rain in the morning and around 65 per cent chances of rain in the afternoon
India vs Nepal Predicted XIs
India’s predicted playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj
Nepal predicted XI: Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Rohit Paudel (c), Aarif Sheikh, Sompal Kami, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Kushal Malla, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi
Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.
4 min read
