Asia Cup: Pakistan win toss, choose to bat against India

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat against India in the super four stage of the 2018 Asia Cup on Sunday.

Speaking on their strategy for today, Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed said, " It's a used pitch. Looks like a flat wicket so we would like to put a good score on the board today. Amir will play today, and Fakhar has been asked to dig in there and hopefully, he can be more steady if he can spend more time out in the middle."

"Shadab is in for Haris and Amir is in for Usman Shenwari. We need to perform well in all three departments and today's performance is crucial for all of us. We will try to score over 250 and defend the score," he added.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

India had easily defeated Pakistan by eight wickets in the group stage match of the tournament.

Speaking about India's strategy, skipper Rohit Sharma said, "If we continue to bowl the way we have, and today will be no different. If we can repeat the feats of the last two games, I'll be a happy captain. I don't think about stats when I play (about India's chances improving when he scores a 50)."

"It's important for me to get my team off to a good start. That's my job. That's the role I play. It is important to not lose early wickets, and if the runs come for me then that is in the best interest of the team. I'm happy with the wrist spinners. They went wicketless in the last game but they know what they're doing, they know what is expected of them in the middle overs," he added.

"They're still learning, and they know what is expected of them. It is important to come out with some good tactical nous when the batsmen go after them in the middle overs. They have done it in the past a lot of times, and a few off-games doesn't mean they are bad bowlers."

"Sometimes the opposition has to be appreciated for the way they play Chahal and Kuldeep, especially given the fact that batsmen try to read them off the hand - what with all the technology and slow-motion videos available. We're going in with the same team today," he concluded.

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w), Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal

Pakistan (Playing XI): Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed(w/c), Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi