IND vs PAK Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 Toss Report: Pakistan Opt to Bowl; KL Rahul Replaces Shreyas Iyer – News18

India and Pakistan are up against each other for the second time in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023. The men in blue begin their journey in the Super Four round of the tournament against arch-rivals in Colombo on Sunday. Unlike their previous group-stage encounter, Rohit Sharma & Co will aim at performing better with the bat when they face a potent Pakistan pace attack, led by Shaheen Shah Afridi. On the other hand, Babar Azam & Co enter the contest after thrashing Bangladesh and will look to continue their winning spree in the continental event.

IND vs PAK Aisa Cup 2023 Super 4 Live Score

On Sunday, Babar Azam won the coin toss and opted to bowl first against India. The men in green have already announced their playing XI a day prior to the match, naming an unchanged combination.

“We will bowl first. I think there is a bit of moisture, we need to use that. Always, India Pakistan is high intensity, but we will take it match to match. As a team, we are playing well, we are focused on this one. No changes,” Babar said after winning the toss.

Meanwhile, Indian captain Rohit Sharma stated that his team wanted to bat first anyway. Jasprit Bumrah returned to the side after missing out on the previous game against Nepal while KL Rahul replaced Shreyas Iyer.

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“Looking to bat first. There will be a challenge upfront, but the way we guys batted last time around gives us confidence. Every game is important for us, but one thing at a time to focus on. (On rain delays) That’s the nature of the sport, it gave us a good time to prepare and now we’ll look to play well. Two changes – Bumrah is back and one forced change, Shreyas Iyer just got a back spasm so KL Rahul comes in for him,” Rohit said.

Here are the playing XIs:

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

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.