Colombo [Sri Lanka], February 15 : Pakistan has won the toss and they have decided to field against India in their Group A clash at the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
The high-voltage encounter between India and Pakistan is being played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
After winning the toss, Pakistan skipper Salman Agha said, "We want to bowl first. It looks a bit tacky, so we feel it will assist the bowlers for the first few overs, so we want to use that. We are relaxed in our group and excited for this challenge. Bigger ground than SSC and the pitch is slower than SSC. Same team for us," as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Indian captain Suryakumar said, "Not at all, we were looking to bat first. We won the last two games defending, so we don't want to change it. It is an occasion, it's a high-stakes game. This sport teaches you a lot of things, any side can win the game on a given day. Two changes. Abhishek Sharma comes in and Kuldeep Yadav is in for Arshdeep Singh."
The arch-rivals have faced each other eight times in T20 World Cup history. The Men in Blue have secured seven victories, while Pakistan has won only one game.
Overall, both sides have faced each other 16 times in T20I cricket. India has clinched 13 wins, while the Men in Green have secured three.
Both India and Pakistan have played two matches each in the tournament so far and have won their respective fixtures. While India will enter the contest on the back of wins against the United States of America and Namibia, Pakistan has defeated the Netherlands and the USA.
The Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian side currently tops Group A with four points and a Net Run Rate (NRR) of +3.050, while Pakistan are placed second with four points and an NRR of +0.932.
Playing XIs of both teams:
India (Playing XI): Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
Pakistan (Playing XI): Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha(captain), Babar Azam, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Khan(wicketkeeper), Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq.