NEW DELHI: Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haqwon the toss and decided to bat in their last Asia Cup league match against arch-rivals India atShere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
For Team India, it was supposed to be a stage rehearsal for the final, but not anymore. A defeat against Bangladesh has come as a shock for MS Dhoni and his boys and now they are up against a resurgent Pakistan looking for revenge.
Pakistan have already secured a berth in the final with victories over Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and will be under less pressure unlike the Indians.
It's the Pakistan bowling attack that is making them look formidable in this tournament. Umar Gul is the spearhead with some decent back-up in the form of Aizaz Cheema, who won the Man of the Match award against Sri Lanka.
The Indians, on the other hand, have to quickly sort out their bowling woes as any mistake could see the team bowing out of the tournament.
The teams have met in two crucial encounters in the last two years (World Cup semifinal in 2011 and Asia Cup in 2010), and India have triumphed on both occasions. But this time, Pakistan hold the aces.
Teams (from):
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Manoj Tiwary, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Rahul Sharma, R Vinay Kumar.
Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Abdur Rehman, Aizaz Cheema, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Hammad Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Saeed Ajmal, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Younis Khan.
