Jharkhand: Cricket fans cheer for India ahead of 'high-octane' clash with Pakistan

Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India]: India will kick off their Asia Cup 2023 campaign with a match against arch-rivals Pakistan on Saturday at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.

Meanwhile, fans who are eagerly waiting for the match, are coming out to display their full support for Team India.

In Ranchi, cricket fans are looking forward to an Indian victory over Pakistan.

"We are all very excited. India-Pakistan matches have become interesting lately, because of the tough competition. We want India to win the Asia Cup. Pakistan's team is also strong, but India will definitely defeat them. We expect a good match today," cricket fans in Ranchi said.

Ahead of the much-awaited encounter, there is a positive update for the fans about the clash at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

According to weather.com at 9:09 AM IST, there are fewer chances of rain on Saturday, however, the weather will be cloudy but there is no sign of rainfall. The sky is predicted to be 64 per cent covered with clouds but there is only a 15-19 per cent forecast predicted of a drizzle.

A local fan at Pallekele also said that the weather is clear and he is excited about the match.

“Weather is very good, weather is clear and there is 99% chance of India winning the game. We hope to see the match,” said a local resident to media.

Indian Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.

Pakistan XI: Fakhar Zaman, Imam Ul Haq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf.