India come up against Pakistan in the 12th match of the ICC Men’s World Cup in Ahmedabad on the 14th of October. Get ready for an epic showdown! Check out our Cricket Match Preview of India vs Pakistan, featuring key players and predictions.
India played Afghanistan in their second match of the CWC, and India won by eight wickets. Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat. Afghanistan started well and made it through to 32 without loss before losing their first wicket. India made a double strike while the score was at 63 before Shahidi and Omarzai put on 121 runs fourth wicket. India never really allowed Afghanistan to get the upper hand throughout the innings and restricted them to 272/8 at the end of the 50 overs. With the bat India were off to a flier as they put on 156 for the first wicket before Kishan was dismissed in the 19th over. Sharma continued on his merry way and brought up his century before being bowled by Khan in the 26th over. India continued to make light work of the remaining runs required and reached the target of 273 in 35 overs.
The top performers in GDS for India were.
Rohit Sharma – 173 points
Jasprit Bumrah – 126 points
Virat Kohli – 77 points
Kuldeep Yadav – 63 points
Hardik Pandya – 61 points
Pakistan played Sri Lanka in their second match of the CWC, and Pakistan won by six wickets. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat. Pakistan was off to a great start and took the wicket of Perera in the second over when the score was only at five. With Nissanka and Mendis at the crease for Sri Lanka, things quickly went sideways for Pakistan. These two batsmen hit the Pakistan bowling attack to all parts of the ground before Nissanka was dismissed in the 18th over with the score at 107. Mendis kept the momentum going as Sri Lanka scored the next 111 runs in the next 11.3 overs before Mendis was dismissed for an impressive 122. After Mendis departure, Pakistan started to claw their way back into contest and ended up restricting Sri Lanka to 344/9 at the end of the 50 overs. Pakistan was off to a wobbly start and found themselves 37/2 in the 8th over. With Shafique and Rizwan at the crease they put on 176 runs for the third wicket before Shafique was dismissed for 113. Rizwan and Shakeel then put on 95 runs for the fourth wicket before Shakeel was dismissed in the 45th over. Pakistan still needed 38 runs to chase down the target and they managed to get there with ten balls to spare.
The top performers in GDS for Pakistan were.
Mohammad Rizwan – 169 points
Abdullah Shafique – 161 points
Hasan Ali – 116 points
Harris Rauf – 69 points
Shaheen Afridi – 51 points
Narendra Modi Stadium Pitch Information
Pace bowlers may see some seam and swing early on, and it may be difficult for the batters to get set. There have been 27 games played at this venue with pace bowlers picking up 216 wickets and spin bowlers 118 wickets. England took on New Zealand at this ground in the first match of the CWC. England made 282 from their 50 overs and New Zealand chased it down in the 37th over with only losing one wicket. Going by this result, it looks like any assistance to the bowlers may be in the first innings.
India vs Pakistan predicted XIs
India: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman/Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Muhammad Wasim/ Usama Mir, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf.
Who to play in your GDS starting XI
Batters
The three batters that I am likely going to start will be Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Abdullah Shafique. Over the last ten matches these players average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
Rohit Sharma – 58 points
Virat Kohli – 64 points
Abdullah Shafique – 48 points
After going out for a duck against Australia, Sharma redeemed himself with a match winning 131 against Afghanistan. You never know what you’re going to get with Sharma, but his ceiling is extremely high. On what looks to be a batting friendly pitch, Sharma will be one of my three batters. Kohli has back-to-back half centuries to begin the tournament and it looks like he’s in great nick. He is an auto pick for my team in his current form. Pakistan have been struggling for form at the top of the order lately and it was great to see Shafique make a century in his last innings. I can’t see him being dropped after making a century and as he is the only Pakistan batter to show any form, he makes it into my squad as the third batter.
If you don’t have the suggested three players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining batters for India and Pakistan in the following order. Babar Azam, Shreyas Iyer, Fakhar Zaman/Imam-ul-Haq and Saud Shakeel.
All-Rounders
The four all-rounders that I am likely going to start will be Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan. Over the last ten matches these players average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
Hardik Pandya – 68 points
Ravindra Jadeja – 67 points
Iftikhar Ahmed – 65 points
Shadab Khan – 70 points
In GDS there are only seven players combined from India and Pakistan that have the all-rounder position designation. Only four of these seven players are predicted to play so the selection process for GDS coaches is an easy one for this match.
Bowlers
The three bowlers that I am likely going to start will be Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Haris Rauf. Over the last ten matches these players average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
Jasprit Bumrah – 77 points
Kuldeep Yadav – 75 points
Haris Rauf – 82 points
Bumrah has been outstanding so far in the CWC. He has picked up six wickets and averages 4.1 dots an over. This comes to an average of 101 points per match in GDS. He is a must start moving forward. Yadav has had a solid start to the tournament and with him coming up against an out of form Pakistan top order, I like him above any of Pakistan’s bowlers. Rauf rounds out my top three bowlers in this match. I have him ranked slightly in front of Afridi and Ali as he has looked the better bowler of the three so far this CWC.
If you don’t have the suggested three players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining bowlers for India and Pakistan in the following order. Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Mohammed Siraj and Muhammad Wasim/Usama Mir.
Wicket Keeper
The wicket keeper that I am likely going to start will be Mohammad Rizwan. Over the last ten matches the wicket keepers from these teams average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
KL Rahul – 66 points
Ishan Kishan – 34 points
Mohammad Rizwan – 72 points
Kishan is not an option for me in this match as it will be KL Rahul behind the stumps. Deciding on who to start between Rahul and Rizwan has been the toughest decision of my starting XI for this match. The only reason why I’m starting Rizwan over Rahul is because he has spent more time at the crease in the opening games of the CWC. In his two innings he has scored 68 vs the Netherlands and 131 vs Sri Lanka. Rahul didn’t have to bat against Afghanistan but did score 97 runs not out against Australia.