India’s Likely XI Against Pakistan

Will India drop Karthik? 2 pacers or 3 pacers? 5 bowling options or 6 bowling options? Can Ashwin play? Where will Surya bat? There are a lot of questions for India to answer before the encounter with Pakistan.

But, we have answered all of them here in this blog to make things easy for you. In this blog we will tell you India’s likely:

• Top order
• Middle order
• Bowling Lineup

So, let’s get on with it.

• Top Order

The top order looks quite settled. There are only 2 specialist openers in the squad; Rohit and Rahul. So, they will start the innings for India.

Virat Kohli is set to come in at his regular one-down position. Surya has performed well there, but that won’t be enough to take Kohli’s position.

So, their top 3 will be:

• Rohit Sharma
• KL Rahul
• Virat Kohli

• Middle Order

There’s not much to think about the middle order as Deepak Hooda will miss out. SYK is certain to come in at #4 as he did against Pakistan in their last encounter.

Pant and Pandya will bat at #5 and #6 respectively. But who is going to come in at #7? The answer to this question will define India’s team combination. It could either be Dinesh Karthik or Ravindra Jadeja.

If Karthik plays, then India will go with 4 regular bowlers+Pandya. If he misses out, Jadeja will come in at #7, and India will go ahead with the 3 pacers+ 2 spinners+ Pandya. It looks like Karthik will probably miss out and Jadeja will bat at his regular position these days.

So, the middle order will comprise:

• Suryakumar Yadav
• Rishabh Pant
• Hardik Pandya
• Ravindra Jadeja

• Bowling Lineup

Now, for the last 4 positions, there are 6 options. Those are; Ashwin, Chahal, Bishnoi Arshdeep, Bhuvneshuwar, and Avesh. So, which two are going to sit on the bench? 

Quite likely, they will be Ashwin and Bishnoi as India will likely go ahead with 3 regular pacers. The dew can play a major role in Dubai and 3 spinners do not look like a great option.

So, the last 4 slots will be filled as:

• Bhuvneshuwar Kumar
• Arshdeep Singh
• Yuzvendar Chahal
• Avesh Khan

Final Playing XI

As per all the team and condition analyses, this should be the final playing XI for India:

1. Rohit Sharma(C)
2. KL Rahul(VC)
3. Virat Kohli
4. Suryakumar Yadav
5. Rishabh Pant(WK)
6. Hardik Pandya
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Bhuvneshuwar Kumar
9. Arshdeep Singh
10. Yuzvendar Chahal
11. Avesh Khan

But, what if Karthik plays and India goes with 5 bowlers? Then, the team will look like this:

1. Rohit Sharma(C)
2. KL Rahul(VC)
3. Virat Kohli
4. Suryakumar Yadav
5. Rishabh Pant(WK)
6. Hardik Pandya
7. Dinesh Karthik
8. Ravindra Jadeja
9. Bhuvneshuwar Kumar
10. Arshdeep Singh
11. Yuzvendar Chahal