Melbourne gears up for a blockbuster Sunday as India meet Pakistan

In less than 24 hours from now, two arch-rivals will be going fangs and claws at each other as Melbourne gears up for a banger. However, in a similarly alarming development, there is a forecast of a heavy downpour at MCG tomorrow that may significantly impact the contest and dampen the spirits of the fans and the players alike.

India will be coming to this contest on the back of some steaming form in the shortest format of the game as they tamed the likes of a high-flying Australia and full-fledged South Africa back home while also getting the better of the hosts in a warm-up contest.

They will be relying heavy upon their batting that features the hallowed likes of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli while a rock-solid middle-order comprising SKY, Hardik Pandya and DK will provide them the much-needed bookend, allowing them to go all guns blazing.

However, India will have a major leak to plug when it comes to their death bowling. With Jasprit Bumrah out of the equation, a lot will rely on the shoulders of an experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar and a young Arshdeep Singh while only time shall reveal who should be the third pacer that Team India may opt for.

Pakistan, on the contrary, has been in the midst of a tempestuous journey of late where they drubbed New Zealand and Bangladesh in a tri-series but were also tamed by England back home and in a warm-up contest ahead of the biennial extravaganza.

They have a strong opening pair in Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan but their major concern will be a wobbling middle-order. They also have a fine bowling line-up featuring some of the world’s finest quicks that compensate handsomely and provide the major threat that Pakistan challenges the world with.

Key player battles:

Virat Kohli versus Shaheen Afridi: The return of Virat Kohli to form since the Asia Cup will act as a major uplift for the Men in Blue as he holds an impressive record against Pakistan in the shortest format of the game. More importantly, his numbers in Australia are through the roof when it comes to T20Is. From 21 innings, he has smashed a staggering 794 runs at an average of 52.93 and a strike rate of 143.84. Shaheen, on the contrary, is like a merchant of menace on the pacy surfaces of Australia. He would be desperate to produce that edge or the nick as his brutal pace can prove to be an undoing for the most illustrious monikers of the sport.

Hardik Pandya versus Shadab Khan: Hardik has been a Titan redivivus ever since he came back from his injury and the kind of brilliance that he brings to the contest is pretty hard to contain. He is a dynamic all-rounder who can chime in with crucial runs in the middle-order and that too at a tempestuous pace while he is capable of making good use of those short balls as a bowler. Shadab Khan is an excellent spinner and can be a crucial moniker for Pakistan in the lower end of the batting order. He houses the potential to bring out the big guns if needed and can also chip in with a handful of important scalps during crunch situations.

Mohammed Shami versus Babar Azam: If we look back at 2021, Babar Azam ran riot over Shami with the Indian pacer barely able to hit the right strides. However, it’s an entirely different ball game this time as the caravan has travelled to Australia and the surfaces aren’t usually the ones like that of UAE. Similarly, the Pakistan captain is an equally stunning batter who can strike the cherry exquisitely.

Match Details:

India vs Pakistan

Melbourne Cricket Ground

23rd October, 2022

1:30 PM

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 11

India won: 7

Pakistan won: 3

Squads:

India:

Rohit Sharma (captain), Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Hooda, Mohammed Shami

Pakistan:

Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood