Arch-rivals India and Pakistan face each other in a high-octane clash at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, February 23. After opening their campaigns against other teams in the Champions Trophy 2025, India and Pakistan are looking to fight tooth and nail in the high-pressure match in Dubai.
Pakistan were off to a strong start after opting to bat first. Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq were cruising towards a fifty-run stand but Hardik Pandya provided a crucial breakthrough, sending Babar back to the hut.
Hardik lured Babar into a drive, bowling one outside off stump and on a driveable length. Babar went for a drive and edged it behind for KL Rahul to take a decent low catch to his right.
While the Indian fans jumped in euphoria, Hardik gave a cold send-off to Babar, gesturing him a goodbye. Watch the video here.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. The Men in Green made one change to the Playing XI that lost to New Zealand in the tournament opener, with Imam replacing the injured Fakhar Zaman, who has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy 2025.
India went unchanged as they kept the same XI intact which made them victorious in their opener against Bangladesh.
"Will bat first, looks like a good surface. Want to put up a good target. Every match is important in ICC events, we will keep things normal. The boys are familiar with these conditions, we have done well here and we want to do our best today. We lost our last game, but it is past for us now. One change - Fakhar is out, Imam is in," Rizwan said at the toss.
"Doesn't really matter, they won the toss so we'll bowl first. Looks similar to the last game, the surface is on the slower side. We have an experienced unit in batting so we know what we need to do if the pitches get slower. Need an overall performance from the team - with bat and ball. The last game wasn't an easy one for us, which is always nice. You want to be under pressure and test yourself. We are playing the same team," Rohit said at the toss.