India vs Pakistan

India vs Pakistan LIVE scores

Tharaka Basnayaka/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press

T20 World Cup LIVE scores: India vs Pakistan

Follow the T20 World Cup match Inida vs Pakistan with live scores and updates from the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia.

India vs Pakistan

India vs Pakistan LIVE scores

Tharaka Basnayaka/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press

India vs Pakistan: T20 World Cup LIVE scores.

India and Pakistan renew cricket’s greatest rivalry on the big stage when they kick off their respective T20 World Cup campaigns at a sold out MCG.

The weather might prove to be the decisive factor in this game though with a high chance of rain in Melbourne today.

India vs Pakistan: LIVE scores

Live India vs Pakistan scores from Flashscore.

India vs Pakistan: MCG Pitch report

According to sources that have had a good look at the surface, the MCG pitch has a little bit of grass on it which might give the seamers something to work with.

The pitch is expected to play reasonably true and the tinge of grass might make life a little more difficult.

Huge boundaries all around might present a challenge for those who don’t hit the long ball, but there will be runs on offer, and it will be tough to defend a total.

The captain winning the toss should stick with the conventional wisdom in T20 cricket and chase.

What they said

India skipper Rohit Sharma is hopeful that his team will rise to the challenge of facing a very good Pakistan team in a huge match.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘pressure’ because pressure is constant, I would like to take this as a challenge,” Rohit said in a pre-match press briefing in Melbourne.

“Pakistan were good on the day of the T20 World Cup match (in 2021). They were also good at the Asia Cup. Luckily for us we got to play them twice at the Asia Cup, we don’t get to play them a lot.

“We got to gauge them, their strengths, weaknesses.” 

India vs Pakistan
Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam. Photo: Aamir QURESHI / AFP

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam responded to the suggestion that his team rely on his partnership with Mohammad Rizwan to win matches.

“Look, sir, this we will know on the day [of the match],” Babar said. “You never know. This is T20. On the day anyone can surprise you. It is a short format, any player can win you the match. We have belief in the middle order. They have won us enough matches, they have performed in enough difficult situations. You should be prepared for everything.”

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Squads

India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami. Standby Players: Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Shardul Thakur.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood. Standby Players: Usman Qadir, Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani.