Dubai: Hardik Pandya misses out on playing in the high-octane Asia Cup final while Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube have been included as India skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to bowl first against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
The two teams are clashing in the Asia Cup final for the first time in 41 years. Both sides are meeting for the third time in the tournament, with India beating Pakistan by seven wickets in their Group A match and by six wickets in the Super Fours meeting.
Hardik had been under doubt to play in the title clash after suffering from cramps during the Super Over win over Sri Lanka on Friday. Ahead of the title clash, he wasn’t seen warming up with the team and his non-involvement is a big blow to the Indian team chasing their ninth Asia Cup title.
His absence means Dube will be entrusted with the new ball, while Rinku would be required to apply finishing touches with the bat. “It looks like a good wicket. The wicket gets better under lights. We have been batting well first but we would like to chase today.”
“The groundsmen have done a terrific job with the wickets here and it will stay the same. The brand of cricket we have been playing for the last 5-6 games is pretty good and we would like to continue that,” said Suryakumar after winning the toss.
Pakistan captain Salman Agha said he was definitely happy in batting first. “We are very excited and looking forward to this game. We haven’t played a perfect game and hopefully we play one today. We have been playing on these pitches for a while and it will play the same,” he said.
Interestingly, at toss time, Suryakumar spoke to Ravi Shastri after the coin fell in his favour, while Salman spoke to Waqar Younis. It remains to be seen if such arrangement is there in place for the post-match presentation ceremony.
Playing XIs
India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Varun Chakaravarthy
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha (captain), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Abrar Ahmed
(IANS)
