Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Khan called for the right side of the coin ahead of the start of the crunch game and decided to bowl first. Fahim Ashraf was the man who was not included in the playing XI, out of the 12 members announced by Pakistan yesterday. This meant that Shadab Khan pipped Ashraf to get a place in the side.
On the other hand, Kohli was happy batting first as he reckoned that the team batting second would be under pressure. There were many surprises in the Indian line-up as team India played three special fast bowlers along with Hardik Pandya as the fourth one. Ravindra Jadeja was the only spinner in the side as there was no place for Ravichandran Ashwin. The other players to be benched were Dinesh Karthik, Mohammed Shami and Ajinkya Rahane.
The Indian team will look to level the number of wins by Pakistan in Champions Trophy where Pakistan have an edge over them. On the other side, Pakistan will look to add one more win over India in Champions Trophy, the only ICC tournament where thy have been able to beat India.
Here is what both the captains said at the time of the toss-
Virat Kohli: “I think the side batting second will have pressure. The wicket is nice and hard, so the fast bowlers can come in at any time of the day. It’s just a game of cricket for me. It’s not about one individual, and all elevn are similar. As I said, we need a complete performance and today is no different. Guys feel normal, the preps are normal (about the IndoPak game). Their team hasn’t changed much, so we have our plans set in place. The five bowles are Bumrah, Yadav, Bhuvneshwar and Jadeja. Hardik is the all-rounder.”
Sarfraz Khan: “I will bowl. Good pitch, won’t change in the second innings as well. As a team, we will hopefully do well. I think India-Pakistan is a special game. Our batting is very much better, so hopefully we will do well. Shadab is in.”
Here is the playing XI of both the sides –
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.
Pakistan Playing XI: Azhar Ali, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed(w/c), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali.