Edgbaston: Indian openers RG Sharma and S Dhawan have racked up an easy 32 off seven overs as Pakistan and India clash in a high-stakes Champions Trophy fixture at Edgbaston where rain is expected on Sunday.
Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and opted to bowl first, and although the pressure is high, he is confident the team’s batting has improved.
“It is a good pitch and won’t change much. India-Pakistan is a pressure game, hopefully we play as a free game. Our batting is much better,” he said.
In an interview yesterday, the skipper had said the team will be “playing differently” and spectators would see some “out of the box things”.
“We have definitely have a plan… you will see us doing some new things which have not been tried against India before,” he said.
A moment of silence was observed by players and spectators at the ground to pay respect to those affected by the London attack which took place Saturday night.
The last time Pakistan defeated India in an ICC tournament was during the 2009 Champions Trophy at Centurion. Since then, India has won all six encounters.
Squads
Pakistan: Azhar Ali, Ahmed Shehzad, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk, c), Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali
India: RG Sharma, S Dhawan, V Kohli (c), Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (wk), KM Jadhav, HH Pandya, RA Jadeja, B Kumar, UT Yadav, JJ Bumrah