India won toss, opt to field against Pakistan in blockbuster World Cup match; Shubman Gill returns

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India]: India won the toss and opted to field in the marquee World Cup match against Pakistan here on Saturday.

India began their World Cup campaign with a victory over Australia and then a win against Afghanistan. Pakistan also has two victories in two matches so far.

Shubman Gill has returned to the Indian side replacing Ishan Kishan while Pakistan will play with the side that won against Sri Lanka.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said at the toss that dew was a factor in the decision to bowl first.

“We will bowl first, cannot get bigger than this, fantastic atmosphere. Sure lot of us are going to experience something really extraordinary. It’s a good track, not going to change much. Dew could be a big factor and keeping that in mind, we want to bowl first. We want to keep striving for the best, we want to come out there and give our best in every game.

Keeping the atmosphere in the team relaxed is the most important thing in a tournament like this. Gill is back in place of Ishan, unfortunate for Ishan to miss out, feel for him, he stepped up when we needed him.”

Pakistan captain Babar Azam also said they wanted to bowl first.

“We also wanted to bowl first. We have had good two wins and momentum and confidence are high. Jam-packed stadium, we will enjoy it. We want to be good in the field, we had a couple of good practice sessions. Same team for us.”

India playing XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (Wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

Pakistan (Playing XI): Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf