India bat first in fiery Asia Cup clash against Pakistan

India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023 clash in Pallekele.

India have left out Mohammad Shami, and have fielded Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah in the seam department. Hardik Pandya will be the fourth seamer and Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja will take care of the spin department.

Virat Kohli will be batting at the number four position. Rohit Sharma-led Team India open their Asia Cup 2023 campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan, who are currently the ranked one ODI side.

Pakistan, on the other hand, have decided not to tweak the winning combination boasting of a strong line-up, with the pace trio of Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, and Shaheen Shah Afridi leading their seam department. Their skipper Babar is their batting mainstay, scoring 151 against Nepal in the previous match. Apart from him, Mohammad Rizwan will hold the key for Pakistan with the bat.

They already have a solid finisher in the form of Iftikhar Ahmed, who has slammed an unbeaten ton in the previous match. 

"We are going to bat first. There is a bit of weather around, but can't think much about it. You have to play good cricket, you need to embrace the challenge, embrace the situation. We had some time off after the West Indies series. Everyone was up for those drills and challenges in Bangalore. Let's see what we can achieve in this tournament. It's a quality tournament with quality opposition. At the end of the day, we need to see what we can achieve as a team," India captain Rohit Sharma said at the toss.

"We would have batted first, but the toss is not in our hands. We have played a lot of cricket here, so we know the conditions. The top teams are playing so the Asia Cup is good. We'll try to do our best. We are playing with the same combination, with no changes. Performing well always gives you confidence, we'll try to capitalize. It's a high-intensity match, we'll try to be calm and composed," Babar stated at the toss.

There are chances of rain interrupting the show.

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan(w), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Pakistan (Playing XI): Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf