India opts to bat first after winning the toss against Pakistan

India opted to bat first after winning the toss against Pakistan in the high-profile match of the Asia Cup 2023.

Both the arch-rivals will begin their quest for today’s win at 2:30 pm (PST), at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

Kandy is half an hour ahead of Pakistan’s standard time.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam in his post-toss talk said the Green Shirts would try to take early wickets.

“Asia Cup is good because the top teams in the world are playing in it. Before the World Cup, we have a good opportunity. We will try to do our best in this Asia Cup,” he added.

Babar Azam said that the team’s combination “is the same” and was not changed.

“Look when you perform always do it with confidence. We will try to utilize this confidence. You know Pakistan-India matches are high-intensity games. We are calm and cool,” he added.

India’s Captain Rohit Sharma said: “There is a bit of weather around but we cannot think about it too much.”

“Embrace the challenge, embrace the situation, and take the game forward. It’s a quality tournament with quality opposition.”

He added that at the end of the day, “we need to think about what we can do here”.

Pakistan Squad:

Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi

India Squad:

Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.