India vs Pakistan, at a World Cup, swords wielded, shields out, the first of many marches towards that title. The hype has been minimum, the build-up nearly non-existent, as all eyes remained glued to the Associate sides, and Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, as they slugged it out to make it to the Super 10 phase of the tournament.
Venue: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Commences: Friday, Mar. 21, 2014
Start time: 1:30 p.m. GMT (7:30 p.m. local)
Live on: Sky Sports 2
So early in the tournament, yet such a critical encounter. Even without the backdrop of the nations' chequered history, India and Pakistan's early confrontation in this World T20 would hold a great deal of significance.
Undoubtedly, what both teams will be craving is a fast start. In an incredibly tough group that also contains Australia and the West Indies, early points will be critical for both of these team's hopes of progressing.
For Dhoni, there are a number of issues that he needs to fret upon although the warm-up game against England was an indication as to what kind of line-up he is planning to field in the upcoming matches. There are still some concerns with both batting and bowling. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan's performance in shorter versions hasn't been good enough but the skipper is not known to tinker too much with his side. Also the fact that Ajinkya Rahane, who can be an option as an opener having done the job for Rajasthan in the IPL, is also not inspiring confidence of the highest order. A good start is always crucial as it helps to seize the initiative early on in the match. Both Rohit and Dhawan would be aware that a couple of defeats could mean end of the road for India in this edition.
Pakistan were all-out for 71 in their last warm-up game against South Africa but that had more to do with trying to test the batsmen by changing the order. While Ahmed Shehzad, skipper Hafeez, and the Akmal brothers - Kamran and Umar - will be itching to have a go at India, the two fear factors for Dhoni's men will be none other than Afridi and Ajmal.
Squads
India
MS Dhoni (c/wk), Varun Aaron, Ravichandran Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Mohit Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh.
Pakistan
Mohammad Hafeez (c), Ahmed Shehzad, Bilawal Bhatti, Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Talha, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal (wk), Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar.
Venue: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Commences: Friday, Mar. 21, 2014
Start time: 1:30 p.m. GMT (7:30 p.m. local)
Live on: Sky Sports 2
So early in the tournament, yet such a critical encounter. Even without the backdrop of the nations' chequered history, India and Pakistan's early confrontation in this World T20 would hold a great deal of significance.
Undoubtedly, what both teams will be craving is a fast start. In an incredibly tough group that also contains Australia and the West Indies, early points will be critical for both of these team's hopes of progressing.
For Dhoni, there are a number of issues that he needs to fret upon although the warm-up game against England was an indication as to what kind of line-up he is planning to field in the upcoming matches. There are still some concerns with both batting and bowling. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan's performance in shorter versions hasn't been good enough but the skipper is not known to tinker too much with his side. Also the fact that Ajinkya Rahane, who can be an option as an opener having done the job for Rajasthan in the IPL, is also not inspiring confidence of the highest order. A good start is always crucial as it helps to seize the initiative early on in the match. Both Rohit and Dhawan would be aware that a couple of defeats could mean end of the road for India in this edition.
Pakistan were all-out for 71 in their last warm-up game against South Africa but that had more to do with trying to test the batsmen by changing the order. While Ahmed Shehzad, skipper Hafeez, and the Akmal brothers - Kamran and Umar - will be itching to have a go at India, the two fear factors for Dhoni's men will be none other than Afridi and Ajmal.
Squads
India
MS Dhoni (c/wk), Varun Aaron, Ravichandran Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Mohit Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh.
Pakistan
Mohammad Hafeez (c), Ahmed Shehzad, Bilawal Bhatti, Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Talha, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal (wk), Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar.
