Pakistan won the crucial toss and elected to bowl first against archrival India in a highly anticipated Group A match at the Twenty20 World Cup held in Westbury, N.Y. The toss was delayed due to rain, causing a half-hour delay, with play commencing at 11:20 a.m. EDT (1520 GMT). Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi delivered the first ball to India's Rohit Sharma under overcast conditions.
The newly constructed 34,000-capacity stadium in New York has introduced challenging drop-in pitches, with Canada being the only team to successfully defend a low score of 137 against Ireland. The pitches have exhibited variable bounce, posing difficulties for the batsmen.
Pakistan made a change to its lineup, bringing in all-rounder Imad Wasim in place of Azam Khan, who was omitted after a disappointing performance in the previous match against the U.S. Imad Wasim, who missed the opener due to a side strain, was declared fit for the crucial encounter.
India, on the other hand, maintained the same squad that secured a convincing eight-wicket victory over Ireland at the same venue. The Indian team has been acclimatizing to the conditions in New York, having played warmup matches and assessed the pitch dynamics.
Both teams are geared up for the high-stakes encounter, with Pakistan's captain Babar Azam emphasizing the importance of focusing on the present game, while India's skipper Rohit Sharma acknowledged the unpredictable nature of the tournament.
Lineups:
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Usman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Amir, Haris Rauf.
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj.
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