Match: Pakistan vs India, Asia Cup 2023, 3rd match (PAK vs IND)
Date: September 2, Saturday, 3.00 PM IST
Venue: The Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Sri Lanka
Arch-rivals India and Pakistan are set to lock horns in Match 3 of the 2023 Asia Cup at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Sri Lanka. The match will be India’s opener at the event, and the second match for Pakistan, who defeated Nepal by 238 runs in their opener.
Pakistan, currently the world’s number 1 ODI team in the ICC rankings, thrashed Nepal on August 30 with impressive performances in both the batting and bowling departments. Babar Azam, the world’s no. 1 ranked ODI batter, scored a knock of 151 runs while Iftikhar Ahmed remained unbeaten on 109 as Pakistan posted a big total of 342 for 6. In response, Nepal were bowled out for a mere 104 runs after Shadab Khan picked up four wickets, and Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf picked up two each.
India and Pakistan last played against each other in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Melbourne. The match, considered one of the best matches played between the two rivals, went down to the wire as India chased down 160 runs in the last ball of the game. But in the 50-over format, the two teams last met at the ODI World Cup 2019, when India won by 89 runs via the DLS method.
Ahead of the big clash between the arch-nemesis, here is everything you need to know to win big on MPL fantasy cricket.
Weather update and pitch report for PAK vs IND, Asia Cup 2023, match 3
The pitch at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium is generally on the slower side. The spinners will get maximum assistance from the surface and a high-scoring game is unlikely on the cards. Historically, the team chasing on their ground has had a better luck at winning. Average first-innings ODI score at the venue is 248 runs, and the 300-run mark has been crossed only a few occasions. India last played at the venue back in 2017. They have overall played three ODIs in Pallekele, winning all.
The weather could play spoilsport to the much-awaited game. Nearly the whole day is expected to remain cloudy and a thunderstorm is also forecast. If that happens, the overcast conditions may help the quicks.
India team news and predicted XI
Team news: India will be led by Rohit Sharma. They are without KL Rahul for the first two matches of the tournament. The top-order batsman is still recovering from a niggle, and it remains to be seen who takes his place. In all likeliness, the replacement will be Ishan Kishan, but it remains to be seen which number he bats at.
Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
Predicted XI: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma (C), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
Pakistan team news and predicted XI
Team news: Pakistan will be led by Babar Azam. Big news coming in from the Pakistan camp is that pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi could miss the match against India due to an injury. He bowled only five overs in the game against Nepal, but picked up two wickets. After bowling five overs, Shaheen looked in discomfort and left the field.
Squad: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir
Predicted XI: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi/Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.
Head to head record
In the 50-over format, the two sides have squared off in 132 matches, with Pakistan winning on 73 occasions. India won 53 times. But in the last three ODI meetings between the two teams, India won all. In the Asia Cup particularly, India and Pakistan have played against each other 13 times in the ODI format. India have won seven of those games, while Pakistan have won five times. One match was washed out. India have won the Asia Cup six times, while Pakistan have won it twice.
Five players to watch out for
Here we list five players you must pick in your MPL fantasy XI PAK vs IND, Asia Cup 2023
Virat Kohli – batter, India
Virat Kohli is the 12th highest run-scorer in Asia Cup history. He also holds the record for the highest individual knock in the history of the tournament, which was 183 runs. Interestingly, this knock came against Pakistan. Kohli is only 102 runs away from getting 13,000 runs in ODIs, which will make him only the second Indian to get to the milestone.
Jasprit Bumrah – bowler, India
Jasprit Bumrah showed no signs of rustiness on his return to competitive cricket against Ireland recently. Playing international cricket after a long gap of 11 months, Bumrah took only two balls to get his first victim. He ended the series as the top wicket-taker, with four wickets in two games. Bumrah’s record in Sri Lanka is also good – 15 wickets in only five ODIs.
Ravindra Jadeja – all-rounder, India
Ravindra Jadeja is just 179 runs short of reaching 6,000 runs in international cricket. Jadeja has played 177 ODIs, from which he has a batting average of 32.82 along with 194 wickets at an average of 37.27. He can help you win points on MPL with both the bat and ball.
Babar Azam – batter, Pakistan
The World no. 1 ODI batter started the Asia Cup with a bang, scoring 151 against Nepal. If India get Babar Azam out early, they will feel a lot more confident about winning the contest. He currently has an incredible batting average of 58.44 in ODIs.
Shadab Khan – all-rounder, Pakistan
Shadab Khan picked up four wickets against Nepal and will be crucial to Pakistan on a slow Pallekele surface. In 60 ODIs, Khan has scored 725 runs and taken 81 wickets.
MPL fantasy XI – PAK vs IND, Asia Cup 2023
PAK vs IND – where and what time to watch the match live in India
The Pakistan vs India ODI will be televised on the Star Sports Network in India. You can also watch the game on the Disney + Hotstar app. The match will begin at 3.30 PM IST on September 2.
Check out our detailed guide on fantasy cricket for more tips and tricks. https://www.mpl.live/blog/todays-match-prediction/
Note: The players recommended here need not be a part of the Playing 11 on game day. Users are advised to do their own research also and follow official sources and create their teams.
