There will be a great fight between confident India and Pakistan!

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Ahmedabad . When the mention of the India-Pakistan 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday comes up, the excitement among the locals and cricket fans visiting Ahmedabad is quite palpable.

Scores of Indian fans, clad in blue jersey, are cheering and chanting across the city in support of Rohit Sharma and Co., who will take the field to face the Babar Azam-led side in front of 1,32,000 supporters. Also many fans from all over the world are ready to watch the match from their TV sets or streaming apps.

Saturday’s match is the first instance of Pakistan and India playing an ODI against each other on Indian soil in over a decade, raising expectations of a high-octane clash. Before the start of the blockbuster match, fans will also be treated to a musical performance by acclaimed composers Arijit Singh, Sukhwinder Singh and Shankar Mahadevan.

Pakistan leads India 73-56 in head-to-head record in ODIs. But when it comes to the World Cup, India have the upper hand, having defeated Pakistan seven out of seven times in the tournament since their first meeting in Sydney in 1992. Pakistan captain Babar Azam hopes to break this Indian record on Saturday.

“The challenge is the Pakistan-India match. You and the fans and the entire Pakistan-India are waiting for this match. We are also very excited. I think both sides are trying to do their best.”

“We are trying to see how we can take wickets of their top-order players and how we can score runs against their bowlers,” he said in the pre-match press conference. What matters is that we play our best game on that day. ,

Pakistan’s top order, including Azam, has not been able to score many runs, although Abdullah Shafiq scored a century in his first ODI World Cup match while chasing the record 345 runs against Sri Lanka. Mohammad Rizwan, who also scored a century in that match, has been instrumental in leading the middle-order challenge along with Saud Shakeel.

With the ball, Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has been down to earth with the ball so far, will aim to make a big impact on the right-handed heavy Indian batting line-up.

For India, captain Rohit Sharma has confirmed that Shubman Gill is 99% available for Saturday’s clash after recovering from the illness that kept him out of the first two matches. With Gill now available, India may consider reuniting him with Rohit, who scored a brilliant century against Afghanistan in New Delhi.

Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul can easily make their way into the middle overs and attack Pakistan’s weak links in the form of spinners Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz. With the ball, Hardik, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja have been brilliant while he hopes Mohammed Siraj gets back to his form soon.

Overall, the numbers and form are in India’s favor to continue their winning streak. Pakistan has given assurances, but it will need everything in its favor to break the long-standing illusion against it. A tough clash between the two teams will be the spark that this World Cup and its loyal fans need.

teams

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

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafiq, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Aga, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Wasim Jr.

(IANS)

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