Who has more X factor in India-Pakistan team, who is the weak link…today is the day of cricket’s biggest rivalry

Dubai: The last time India and Pakistan played in the Champions Trophy was the final of that tournament in 2017. Then the Indian team lost by 110 runs. The Indian team was the champion in this tournament in 2013, while in 2002 it was the joint champion. Pakistan won this tournament in 2017.

Now if we talk about the Champions Trophy journey of both the teams, India defeated Bangladesh by 6 wickets in its first match. On the other hand, Pakistan lost to New Zealand by 60 runs. Gautam Gambhir is the coach of the Indian team while Pakistan’s coach is Aaqib Javed. Mudassar Nazar of the Pakistani team is also giving special inputs to the team in the Champions Trophy.

Strength and X factor of Indian team

In the opening match of Indian team in Champions Trophy, Shubman Gill was the hero against Bangladesh. Rohit Sharma had scored 41 runs against Bangladesh on 20th February. KL Rahul played a brilliant innings of 41 runs after a missed catch. With the ball, Mohammed Shami took 5 wickets, Harshit Rana took 3 wickets and Axar Patel got 2 wickets. Hardik is also in great touch with bowling and batting at this time. Axar Patel is the X factor of Team India. His bowling is amazing, while his batting strike rate is also 139.

Weakness of Indian team

Virat Kohli was out after scoring 22 runs against Bangladesh, so a big innings will be expected from him against Pakistan. Shreyas and Axar were out early. Good innings will be expected from them too. In the first match, Kuldeep Yadav’s bowling was not like what he is known for. He also dropped two catches during the match.

Strength and X factor of the Pakistani team
The Pakistani captain may have failed in the last match, but his recent form has been excellent. Middle order batsman Salman Aga is also in top form. If the bowling of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf gives movement, it will be a warning bell for the Indian team. Khushdil Shah (69) and Salman Aga (42) also showed their strength with the bat in the match against New Zealand. In such a situation, both these players will be the X factor for Team India.

Weakness of the Pakistani team
Talking about Pakistan, Babar Azam played an opening innings of 64 runs off 90 balls against New Zealand on 19 February. His innings was criticized a lot. In bowling, sharp bowling will be expected from Pakistan’s pace battery Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf. They were very expensive against New Zealand. Afridi (10-0-68-0), Naseem (10-0-63-2), Rauf (10-0-83-2) proved to be especially expensive. On the other hand, Pakistan’s ground fielding was very weak in the first match.

There is a problem between both the teams regarding selection…
There will be a lot of brainstorming regarding selection in the Indian cricket team. It will be interesting to see who will get a chance among Varun Chakraborty or Kuldeep Yadav. It will also be interesting to see who will make it among Arshdeep Singh or Harshit Rana. Fakhar Zaman has been injured, so Imam-ul-Haq will be seen playing in his place in this match. But there is a possibility that Kamran Ghulam or Tayyab Tahir can also be given a chance.

By the way, in this match to be held in Dubai today, the maximum temperature will be 26 degrees Celsius and the minimum will be 23 degrees Celsius. There is no possibility of rain. This match will start at 2:30 in the afternoon. The toss will take place exactly half an hour before that, i.e. at 2 o’clock.

Rohit Sharma will hardly make any changes in his playing eleven. The same playing eleven that played against Bangladesh will probably be fielded to play against Pakistan.

India’s probable playing 11 against Pakistan: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami

Pakistan’s probable playing 11 against India: Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (captain, wicketkeeper), Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha (vice-captain), Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi

India Pakistan ODI record

Team India has played against Pakistan twice in the ODI (One Day International) format in Dubai. Team India has won both the times. India and Pakistan have faced each other five times in the Champions Trophy, where the Pakistani team has gained an edge by defeating India three times. Their victory came in 2004 against England, in 2009 against South Africa and in 2017 in the final held at The Oval in London. In the overall statistics of ODIs, the Pakistani team is far ahead of India. (A total of 135 ODIs have been played between the two countries. India won 57 times and Pakistan won 73 times. The result of 5 matches could not be decided.