New York: Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and opted to field against Rohit Sharma-lead Team India in the highly anticipated clash between the arch-rivals in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 at New York's Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Emotions will run high among passionate fans in the stands as India and Pakistan step into the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium to add a new chapter to their historic rivalry on Sunday at the T20 World Cup 2024.
In the previous edition of the competition, India relied on Kohli's bat to secure a thrilling victory at the legendary Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2022. This time, Pakistan will try to avenge their slump by winning their first match of the competition after suffering an incredible meltdown against the USA in Dallas.
Meanwhile, Rohit-led Team India started their T20 WC campaign with a comfortable win over Ireland by 8-wicket while Babar Azam-led Pakistan suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of associate member US.
Speaking at the time of toss, Babar said, "We will bowl first because of the weather and moisture in the pitch. The conditions suit us, we have four fast bowlers. We will try to use it to our best. Past is past, we are looking forward to today's match, we are ready and will give our 100 per cent. Always a big game, our confidence is always high for India vs Pak. Azam Khan is resting."
India will head into the match with the same playing XI while Pakistan have made one change as they have replaced Azam Khan with Imad Wasim.
Rohit Sharma said, "Would've bowled first too. We need to assess how conditions play and come up with an idea of what a good score is. Those games have helped us assess conditions here. We've spoken about what we need to do as a batting unit to get a good score and then we've got the bowling unit to defend. Every game is important in a World Cup, you can't just show up. Anything can happen. We're sticking to the same XI.
Pakistan (Playing XI): Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Usman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Amir.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh.
—ANI