India and Pakistan will be playing against each other in the second game of Group A in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy. The game is scheduled to be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Sunday (February 23).
In their first game of the tournament, Pakistan ended up suffering a loss against New Zealand in Karachi. The Black Caps thrashed the hosts by 60 runs to deal a huge blow to their hopes of qualifying for the semifinal. Pakistan now cannot afford another slip up and need to beat India to keep alive their slim chances.
India, on the other hand, began their campaign with a six-wicket win over Bangladesh and are looking destined to qualify for the semifinals. With India’s last group game against in-form New Zealand, they will be keen to beat the struggling Pakistan team and all but seal their passage to the semifinals.
IND vs PAK Match Preview- ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Match 5:
IND vs PAK, Date and Venue:
The upcoming IND vs PAK match will be played on Sunday (February 23) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai. The match will be played from 02:30 PM (IST).
Squads:
India:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar
Pakistan:
Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Khan, Kamran Ghulam, Faheem Ashraf
IND vs PAK key battles:
Shubman Gill vs Shaheen Afridi:
Shubman Gill has been in stunning form at present. The right-handed batsman has scored two centuries and as many half-centuries in his last four ODI innings. In the three-match series against England, Gill scored 87, 60 and 112.
He has started his campaign in the Champions Trophy with a brilliant 101-run knock. Gill will be one of Pakistan’s biggest threats and they will be hoping that their pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi gets his wicket as early as possible. Afridi can trouble the batsmen early on with his incoming deliveries and will be keen to get Gill’s wicket.
Mohammad Rizwan vs Kuldeep Yadav:
Mohammad Rizwan has made a name for himself for his ability to deliver in crunch situations. With Pakistan on the verge of getting knocked out from the Champions Trophy, the onus will be on their captain to deliver with the bat.
Rizwan was out for only 3 against New Zealand and will be desperate to make amends in the upcoming game. And India will be relying on their lead spinner Kuldeep Yadav for Rizwan’s wicket.
Babar Azam vs Mohammed Shami:
Things have not gone well for Babar Azam in recent times but the former Pakistan captain is more than capable of winning games single-handedly. He scored 64 runs against New Zealand in the previous game and will be eyeing another big score against India.
While Babar will be looking to give his team a good start with the bat, the onus will be on India’s pace spearhead Mohammed Shami to stop him. Shami picked up a brilliant 5-wicket haul against Bangladesh and will look to continue his strong start to the tournament.
IND vs PAK Key Players
IND – Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, and Mohammed Shami will be the key players for India.
PAK – Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Agha, and Naseem Shah will be the key players for Pakistan.
IND vs PAK Weather And Pitch Report:
The weather is expected to be dry in Dubai on Sunday. There is no forecast for rain in the city on the game day and the IND vs PAK match is unlikely to face any major interruption. The temperature will be in the 30s in the first half of the game and will drop to the 20s after the sunset.
The pitch is expected to be slow and dry and the batsmen are unlikely to get too much assistance in the IND vs PAK match. Spinners could make a big impact in the upcoming game.
Conclusion:
Neither India nor Pakistan could afford to lose this game. A defeat in the upcoming game for Pakistan will all but end their hopes of making it to the last four. On the other hand, India could also find themselves in a tricky situation if they lose against Pakistan.