Asia Cup: Bumrah and Varun return as India elect to bowl first against Pakistan

Dubai: Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy are back for India as captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to bowl first against Pakistan in a high-stakes Asia Cup Super Fours game at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.

The two teams had last met in a Group A game at the same venue last week, where India emerged victorious by seven wickets. However, the aftermath drew headlines as no one from the Indian team shook hands with their Pakistani counterparts, a gesture that sparked discontent within the latter, and they almost pulled out of the eight-team competition.

After winning the toss, Suryakumar said Bumrah and Chakaravarthy come into the playing eleven in place of Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana. It also means Axar Patel is fit to play in Sunday’s game after suffering a head injury while fielding in their final Group A game against Oman in Abu Dhabi.

“Looks like a nice track, and yesterday there was dew. Since the first round, we were thinking we’re playing a knockout tournament; nothing has changed. That was a completely different wicket (in Abu Dhabi). Quite normal, just another game,” he said.

Pakistan captain Salman Agha said Faheem Asharf and Hussain Talat replace Hasan Nawaz and Khushdil Shah in the playing eleven. “Would’ve bowled first as well. It’s a new game, a new challenge. The mood is very normal. Pitch looks to be on the slower side. Want to start well with both bat and ball,” he said.

Just like in last week’s game, both Suryakumar and Salman didn’t shake hands at toss time, while Andy Pycroft will remain the match referee for the clash in Dubai.

Playing XIs:

India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, and Varun Chakaravarthy

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Abrar Ahmed

IANS