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Team Watch
India
Injuries/unavailability: The Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid duo is not expected to go in for any change in the four-pronged pace attack. One change that can cross their mind is bringing in Kuldeep Yadav, who has an impressive record against Pakistan, in place of Axar Patel. But then that is a long shot.
Tactics & Matchups: Rizwan and Babar's vulnerability against left-arm spin is no secret. The duo strikes at only 116 and 107.2 against the ilk, respectively, and have lost their wickets to left-arm spinners 7 and 6 times, respectively, in all T20Is. India could be tempted to throw the new ball to Axar Patel for an over to two for an early breakthrough.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj
Pakistan
Injuries/Unavailability: Coach Gary Kirsten, in India till recently, knows the Indian cricketers inside out and he may draw a plan on how to break the Indian hegemony over their arch-rivals. He is well known to inspire teams and Pakistan, at a low after losing to minnows US in the first game, will look to him for inspiration. Although an important member of the side, Shadab Khan's spot might be under scrutiny as there is not much assistance for the spinners in the wicket. If they are to strengthen their batting, then top order bat Saim Ayub may be an option.
Tactics & Matchups: Indian openers Rohit (SR: 121.21) and Kohli (SR: 103.10) have been dismissed 13 and 4 times, respectively, by left-arm seamers in the PowerPlays in T20Is since 2016, making their match-up against Afridi and Amir one to watch-out for.
Probable XI: Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Usman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan/Saim Ayub, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Amir, Haris Rauf
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