India is ready to lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan in much-awaited battle on the 28th of August, Sunday.
Rohit Sharma-led India will want to start on a high note with their new batting philosophy. On the other hand, start batter Virat Kohli will want to reinvent himself. The men in blue will aim to create a new narrative when India get ready to settle scores with Pakistan.
Rohit and Virat have been the two pillars of India's team for the past decade but remembering the rude jolt at this very venue 10 months back during the T20 World Cup, the duo exactly knows where they stand and what they need to do to turn the tables.
While Rohit will be eager to test his ultra-aggressive batting template against the Asian giants, for Kohli it will be the perfect platform to return to form after enduring a tough phase in the last few years.
With no bilateral contests between the cross-border neighbours for 10 years now and nothing on the anvil in near future, the geo-political tension does always make for a heady build-up.
But the lack of regular games means that Indo-Pak rivalries are rather held between unfamiliar foes rather than familiar ones.
One can't plan a lot against an opposition whom a team plays once or twice a year, while one has to expect the unexpected.
The last time India played Pakistan, the result was a 10-wicket defeat.
Teams:
India squad: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.
Pakistan squad: Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir, Mohammed Hasnain, Hasan Ali
(Inputs from PTI)
