India meet Pakistan in a battle of points-table supremacy amidst an unblemished streak

In less than 24 hours, India will step onto the field in the ongoing World Cup 2023 as one of the biggest challenges looms for the Men in Blue. It is India vs Pakistan and both the teams will be hoping to walk out of this fixture with their third consecutive win of the tournament.

India started their campaign on a high note as they blew away Australia in the opening fixture, thanks to a formidable bowling unit followed by a heroic display from the duo of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli. They followed this up with another brilliant victory against Afghanistan where despite their bowlers going for a few runs, Rohit Sharma and Virat  steered the Indian ship home without breaking a sweat.

Pakistan got off to a fine start as well where they swatted aside an undercooked Netherlands by a staggering 81 runs, thanks to a brilliant batting display from Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan, while Haris Rauf clinched a three-fer to help them earn their first win. Their bowlers however, went for quite a hammering at Hyderabad as they conceded 344 runs against Sri Lanka. However, Rizwan once again came good to blow away their continental neighbours as he smashed an unbeaten century to usher Pakistan home.

This is going to be a crucial fixture for both the teams as a third consecutive win for any of these sides will allow them to bolster their grip on the upper half of the table while also boosting their confidence by leaps and bounds. India’s net run rate of +1.500 has placed them in the third position of the points table currently while Pakistan is just adrift of them by decimals.

India will be hoping for the return of Shubman Gill, who has travelled with the team for the first time to a World Cup venue after contracting dengue ahead of the first match of the tournament. However, if Gill does come in, the question will be who gets the axe between Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, which will be a debatable topic. Another important factor that may do the rounds is whether Shardul Thakur continues to play, considering Pakistan’s vulnerability against swing bowling or whether R Ashwin will get a look-in.

Pakistan will be hoping to keep somewhat of a similar side that went onto get the better of Sri Lanka, once again pinning their hopes on their tall bowling order, spearheaded by Shaheen Shah Afridi. With all said and done, this clash, like always, will be dividing the world into two factions and the cricket aficionados would be hoping to catch a glimpse of a historic blockbuster.

Venue Watch:

A ground of historic importance, Narendra Modi Stadium now offers a batting-friendly surface where bowlers have often been punished mercilessly. A flat track that has slowed down considerably since its inception now allows the batter to dream of 350-plus totals with all the resources of modern-day cricket (from those well-built bats to those wide flurry of unorthodox shots). A total of 29 matches have been played in the venue out of which 16 have been won batting first while 13 have been won chasing. The average score currently may read 237 while batting first but it's altogether a different landscape now. You can expect those numbers to be in the range of 280-plus.

Head to Head:

Matches played: 134

India – 56

Pakistan - 73

Match Details:

Match – India vs Pakistan

Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

Date: 14th October, 2023

Time: 2:00 PM

World Cup face-offs:

Matches played: 7

India: 7

Pakistan: 0

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim