India and Pakistan will square off against each other in the 16th match of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday, October 23.
The excitement is sky high with the arch-rivals clashing for the third time in the year, but the fans could be in for heartache if the rain gods play spoilsport. However, the two teams wouldn’t be fazed by the weather conditions or the pressure the contest brings. This would again be a game where India’s batting prowess will be pitted against Pakistan’s bowling attack.
Head to head
India won: 8, Pakistan won: 3 (includes India’s bowl-out win in 2007)
Pitch and Weather report
The pitch at MCG is a balanced one. It has something to offer for both batters and bowlers.
Chances of rain were more than 90 per cent on Thursday, but has now reduced to 70 per cent. “Cloudy. High (70%) chance of showers, most likely in the late afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm in the northeast suburbs in the late afternoon and evening. Winds southerly 15 to 25 km/h tending southeasterly 20 to 30 km/h in the evening,” Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology was quoted as saying in a press release.
Probable XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin/Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel/Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shan Masood, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Current form:
India: LWWWW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Pakistan: WWLWW
*W- Win, L- Loss