Pakistan skipper Mohammad Hafeez won the toss and decided to bat first against arch-rivals India in the World Twenty20 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday.Dashing opener Virender Sehwag returned to the playing XI after missing last two matches against England and Australia.
Seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji also made his way back in to the team. Piyush Chawla and Harbhajan Singh were left out for today's match.
On the other hand Pakistan have retained the same playing XI which beat South Africa in their first Super Eight game.
Humiliated by Australia in their opening Super Eight match, a jittery India will have to pick up the pieces from their all-round failure and come up with an inspired performance against Pakistan.
Pakistan, on the other hand, would look to put up an improved batting performance as it was due to sheer brilliance of Umar Gul that they were able to beat South Africa after being 76 for seven at one stage.
The Indian team looked completely out of sorts against Australia and they now have to quickly address their woes in all departments of the game when they take on an upbeat Pakistan, who had beaten South Africa in a thriller, if they want to remain afloat in the tournament.
India's five bowler strategy was a big hit against England in the group match but in conducive conditions against Australia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's frontline spinners were hammered by Shane Watson-David Warner duo in Friday's match.
Pakistan are far superior players of spin bowling. On their day, the likes of Imran Nazir, Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez can blow apart any kind of attack.
Talent has never been an issue with Pakistan cricket as they have had that in abundance but consistency has been a problem.
The only problem for Pakistan has been Afridi's sharp dip in form with the willow which at times does hamper Pakistan's batting prospects.
Afridi's propensity of playing high-risk-no-gain kind of strokes has always put his team in trouble and it was not an exception against South Africa.
Skipper Hafeez's consistency, Ajmal's tricks and Shoaib Malik's calming presence are certain positive aspects for the team.
Teams:
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Ravichandran Ashwin, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh.
Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez (captain), Imran Nazir, Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Yasir Arafat, Raza Hasan, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal.
(Times Of India)
