Asia Cup 2023, IND vs PAK Playing 11: Rahul replaces Shreyas in India's XI

India made two changes in their line-up from the one that played against Nepal. KL Rahul has replaced Shreyas Iyer, who is suffering from back spasms

2:59 PM

Asia Cup 2023, India vs Pakistan: Colombo weather forecast

More good news coming our way! Local channels reporting that Colombo will remain cloudy and chances of rain before 7 PM IST are very less. However, post 7 pm there could be mild showers, but they expect the intensity to be very less.
 

The probability has been brought down from heavy to moderate....we can expect it to change further during the course of the afternoon pi

2:56 PM

Asia Cup 2023, IND vs PAK: Pakistan Playing 11

Pakistan (Playing XI): Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf

2:56 PM

Asia Cup 2023, IND vs PAK: India Playing 11

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

 

2:34 PM

Asia Cup 2023, India vs Pakistan Playing 11 live updates: Rahul comes in for Shreyas

India make two changes in their playing 11, bringing in KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah. KL Rahul has replaced Shreyas, who suffered back spasm. 

2:31 PM

Asia Cup 2023, India vs Pakistan Playing 11 live updates: India batting first

TOSS TIME!!!

Rohit calls head and it is tails. Babar decides to bowl first.

2:27 PM

Asia Cup 2023, India vs Pakistan Playing 11 live updates: KL with keeping gloves before the toss

KL Rahul was doing keeping drills before the toss followed by animated chats with head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma.

Will he get a chance in India's Playing XI today? It will be revealed in few minutes. Stay tuned with us, we are here to provide latest live update.

2:17 PM

Asia Cup 2023, India vs Pakistan Playing 11 live updates: Jaffer comes up with new playing 11 idea

'Wise to play Axar in place of Shardul': Wasim Jaffer on team selection

Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer wants Team India to go ahead with spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel instead of pace-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur ahead of their Asia Cup Super Four clash against Pakistan in Colombo.

 

 

Ahead of the match, Jaffer said that conditions in Colombo are spin-friendly and when it comes to bowling all-rounders, Men in Blue should make the "wise" move of going ahead with Axar instead of Shardul.

 

"Due to spin-friendly conditions in Colombo, it will be wise to play Axar in place of Shardul. #INDvPAK," tweeted Jaffer.

 

Inclusion of Axar will not only offer India a solid spin option, but also a left-handed batter option.

 

Axar has also been in a solid form this year with the bat. In six ODIs, he has scored 64 runs, with the best score of 29*. He has often come down the order as a finisher, but has been promoted up to number four or five against Australia and West Indies, a tactic which failed.

 

Overall across all of international cricket this year, Axar has scored 485 runs in 17 innings at an average of 44.09, with four half-centuries and best score of 84. He also had a solid Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 for Delhi Capitals, scoring 283 runs at an average of 28.30, with one half-century with a strike rate of over 139.

Axar Patel

2:05 PM

Asia Cup 2023, India vs Pakistan Playing 11 live updates: Bumrah's big day

Jasprit Bumrah is one certain inclusion in India's Playing 11 today. Bumrah missed the game against Nepal due to personal reasons.

Bumrah will be playing his first ODI since July 2022 (when he bowled). If he gets the ball today, it will be great chance for team management to see whether he is match fit for a 50-over game. 

Though Bumrah didn't bowl against Pakistan on September 2, but he smashed some brilliantly boundaries lower down the order.

Jasprit Bumrah

1:51 PM

Asia Cup 2023, India vs Pakistan Playing 11 live updates: KL's ODI numbers

Rahul remains one of India's steadiest ODI batters since 2019. In that year, he made 572 runs from 13 matches at 47.67.

 

The trend continued in the following years In 2020: 443 runs from 9 matches at 55.38, in 2021: 108 runs from 3 matches at 88.50, in 2022: 251 runs from 10 matches at 27.89 and in 2023: 226 runs from 6 matches at 56.50.

 

If one filters the stats further, while batting at No. 5, Rahul has amassed 742 runs from 18 matches at 53 with a hundred and seven fifties.

 

 

Those are strong numbers and his wicket-keeping offers an additional arrow in the quiver. Rahul also engaged in intense wicketkeeping drills at nets on Friday, further indicating his readiness to make the return.

 

So, the team management will have to take a hard call on the match day.

1:45 PM

Asia Cup 2023, India vs Pakistan: Colombo weather live updates

Just a reminder, there is no sign of clouds at the moment around R Premadasa Stadium. The sun is shining brightly and the scheduled time for live toss is 2:30 PM IST.

1:39 PM

Asia Cup 2023, India vs Pakistan Playing 11 live updates: Babar's men arrive at Stadium

Pakistan cricket team led by Babar Azam has arrived at the R Premadasa Stadium. 

1:36 PM

Asia Cup 2023, India vs Pakistan Playing 11 live updates: Team India arrives at Stadium

Indian cricket team led by Rohit Sharma has arrived at R Premadasa Stadium. The team looks very confident and cheerful ahead of the India vs Pakistan clash.

1:32 PM

Asia Cup 2023, India vs Pakistan Playing 11 live updates: Why Kishan should retain his place?

The Indian team management's predicament to choose between KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan will be the dominating theme amid the usual edgy emotional quotient, when Rohit's men clash with arch-rivals Pakistan in an hour time.

The return of Rahul to the squad has widened the pool of players to select from, but that has also given them a happy headache.

 

Kishan has impressed everyone in the last month or so, smashing four fifties in as many matches three against the West Indies and one against Pakistan in the Asia Cup Group A match at Pallekele last week.

 

During the process, Kishan has also diversified himself, underlining his comfort in positions ranging from opening to No. 5.

 

The 25-year-old Jharkhand man opened the innings against the Caribbeans while batted in the middle-order against Pakistan.

 

Additionally, Kishan brings in a bit of variety to the Indian batting line-up as he is a left-hander.

 

1:16 PM

Asia Cup 2023, India vs Pakistan Playing 11 live updates: Rahul or Kishan, expert opinion

Broadcasters Sanjay Manjrekar and Waqar Younis feel that India should stick with Ishan Kishan in the Playing 11 vs Pakistan today. Given the southpaw has been exceptional in the recent outings. KL Rahul coming into the side and not performing will certainly put extra pressure in such a high-octane clash.

Gautam Gambhir has his say on Ishan Kishan vs KL Rahul. Photo: X

1:12 PM

Asia Cup 2023, India vs Pakistan: Colombo weather live updates

The live visuals are coming from R Premadasa Stadium as broadcasters have started their live coverage of the high-octane clash. There is no sight of clouds at the moment, with some shining brightly.

Game on, guys!!