Who: India vs Pakistan
What: ICC T20 World Cup 2024 Group A Match
When: Sunday, June 9, 10:30am local time (2:30pm GMT)
Where: Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, United States
As: Follow Al Jazeera’s live text and photo coverage
Gary Kirsten first experienced the agony associated with being a Pakistan cricket fan when the new coach of the men’s team saw the team crumble to a super over defeat against the USA in their opening match of the 2024 Pakistan Men’s T20 World Cup. ICC.
Pakistan’s defeat against newcomers and tournament co-hosts was one of the biggest shocks in the history of the game, but Kirsten believes her players have “moved on” and are now focused on the challenge ahead.
The challenge, in fact, cannot be greater than a mandatory World Cup match against historic rival India.
“There is no need to motivate the team for this game,” Kirsten told reporters on Saturday.
The South African, who was in charge of the Indian team when they won their second ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011, said the atmosphere could be “a little different” because the game is not being played in India or Pakistan, but he hopes very. support for both teams at the New York location.
Kirsten admitted that it will be difficult to bat in the field and that the bowlers on both sides will have an advantage.
“The batsmen are going to have to play with courage, assess the conditions, assess what could be a good result on this wicket [if we bat first] and then make sure we get a competitive total.”
India captain Rohit Sharma agreed with Kirsten’s assessment and said his team will have to assess the wicket “very quickly” and adjust accordingly.
Rohit’s team has the advantage of having played two games on the field, one of which was the tournament opener against Ireland. India completed the difficult chase thanks to Rohit’s half-century but the captain had to retire injured after being hit on the arm.
The experienced batsman said he will play his innings “in a very balanced way”.
“I don’t want to be too aggressive or too cautious, but someone has to put pressure on the pitchers to try to do something different. Otherwise it’s a very easy game [for the bowlers].”
Field and climatic conditions
Field conditions at Nassau County Stadium have steadily improved over the last four games, but still present an element of unpredictability. However, it is still expected to favor seam players and both sides have plenty of them in their lineups.
Following criticism from fans and former players, the International Cricket Council (ICC) admitted that the pitches were not up to standards and that the ground staff were working to remedy them.
The India-Pakistan match is expected to be played on a new surface.
The weather may have a say in the game, as rain is forecast in the morning.
Form guide
Both teams enter the match with contrasting forms.
India have won two of the last three T20I series home and away, and managed to beat Ireland in the opening game.
Pakistan could not have had a worse start to the campaign, which also comes after a 2-0 series defeat against England and a 2-1 defeat against Ireland.
India: WWWWW
Pakistan: LLLWW
Indian team news
India are unlikely to tinker with the XI that saw them overtake Ireland in the opening game, but there could be reasons to bring in Kuldeep Yadav in place of Axar Patel given the former’s success against the Pakistan captain.
Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Pakistan national team news
Pakistan coach Kirsten avoided questions about her team’s XI and also stopped short of including Wasim in the squad despite the all-rounder being declared fit.
Azam Khan’s poor form could see him withdraw from the game in favor of young striker Saim Ayub, while the experienced Wasim could replace Iftikhar Ahmed.
Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan, Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abbas Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
Main combinations
- Virat Kohli vs Mohammad Amir
- Rohit Sharma vs Shaheen Shah Afridi
- Babar Azam vs Kuldeep Yadav
- Rishabh Pant x Shadab Khan
- Mohammad Rizwan vs Arshdeep Singh
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
