India will clash with Pakistan at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday in a bid to secure their eighth straight victory in the ICC Men's ODI World Cup. The Men in Blue have a flawless run against the arch-rivals in this tournament, and they will look to live up to resounding expectations to extend that in front of a record capacity in the world's biggest cricket stadium.

Rohit Sharma and his team have secured consecutive wins in their first two games of the competition. They beat Australia in a thrilling contest in Chennai before rolling over Afghanistan in New Delhi. Similarly, Pakistan beat Netherlands pretty convincingly and followed it up with a record World Cup chase against Sri Lanka. They played both their matches at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Shubman Gill is back in the nets ahead of this mega encounter, and he even trained for an hour in the build-up to this game. If fit, the right-hander will walk into the playing XI, replacing either Ishan Kishan or Shreyas Iyer. Kishan had played a clutch knock of 82 runs against Pakistan in the Asia Cup, whilst batting in the middle-order in a precarious situation in the game.

Iyer roared back into contention after a fantastic ton in Indore against Australia last month. Whilst both these players will fit in at No. 4, Ishan's left-handedness gives India an option to take on Shadab Khan and Mohammed Nawaz in the middle-overs. That being said, Iyer's prowess against spin is equally fantastic and it will be a nice little toss-up between the two batters.

Catch live coverage of the Bangladesh vs New Zealand World Cup match here

India will also have to pick one of Ravichandran Ashwin or Shardul Thakur for the No. 8 spot. Both of them are equally prolific with the bat but it's the nature of the track and the assessment of the opposition that will play important factors in helping the team management make a final call. Ashwin returned with a wicket and a maiden in exchange of 34 runs in his spell of 10 overs against Australia. Thakur conceded 31 and picked a dismissal in six overs in front of Afghanistan.

With regards to Pakistan, they will be upbeat after chasing down 345 against the Lankans in the last game. The move to rope in Abdullah Shafique reaped rich dividends as the batter replaced Fakhar Zaman and scored 103 runs, cementing his spot at the top of the order. Pakistan will again be banking on the brilliance of Shaheen Shah Afridi to pluck early dismissals and put the Indian team in a spot of bother in this crucial encounter.

Predicted Playing XI

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

Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam ul Haq, Babar Azam, Muhammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf

Key Players

Virat Kohli (India)

Virat Kohli has scored two half-centuries in the opening couple of the matches of the World Cup so far

Virat Kohli loves the big moments and moments don't come much bigger than this. The batting mainstay stepped up big time against Australia and he will again be called to action against the Pakistani pace attack on Saturday. With an average of 55.17 and strike rate of 100.61, Kohli has three tons and two half-centuries in ODIs against the neighbours. Pakistan will single him out as the man to watch out for in the coming game.

Babar Azam (Pakistan)

Babar Azam has been unable to perform well with the bat in the World Cup so far

Pressure will be mounting on Babar Azam after his disappointing returns with the bat in the opening two games. The batter has aggregated 15 runs in two games, but there will be no better time to roar back into form than against India. Babar averages 28 at a strike rate of 72.41 in seven ODIs against India. He hasn't scored even a half-century against the Men in Blue and Pakistan will want their captain heading ahead into the tournament.

Head-to-Head

Played - 134

India - 56

Pakistan - 73

No Result - 5

Pitch Report

The average first innings score in 29 ODIs at this venue is 237. However, one can expect a fairly high-scoring encounter given that the pitch will be fresh and helpful for batting early on in the tournament.

Weather Report

The temperature is expected to hover between 30°C-34°C in Ahmedabad during the course of the game. Humidity is likely to be around 36% in the city.

Where to Watch

The match will be telecast live on the Star Sports Network and it will be streamed digitally on the Disney+Hotstar application. Mobile users will have access to the latter for free. The game will start at 2 PM IST, Saturday.

First Published:Oct 13, 2023 1:26 PM IST