6 hours ago
1
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Shami hobbles off
5th over: Pakistan 25-0 ( Imam ul Haq 9, Babar Azam 10) Imam is tempted, nibbling at Shami as the ball shimmies past the outside edge. Another beauty from Shami has the slips applauding – but here is the physio, massaging Shami’s right calf. He finishes the over but leaves the field, which could be huge news.
We see a clip from the players walking onto the pitch at the start of the match, Virat gives Babar an affectionate pat on the back. Good to see.
4th over: Pakistan 22-0 ( Imam ul Haq 6, Babar Azam 10) Come on Babar don’t get marooned – and here he goes, whipping Harshit for four from outside off stump, and then a glorious stride and drive through the covers for four more. It took Pakistan ten overs to get to 22 against New Zealand – here they make it after four.
3rd over: Pakistan 14-0 ( Imam ul Haq 6, Babar Azam 2) Shami again, and this time with more control. Imam, glasses gleaming under his helmet, plays and misses at the darting ball but collects a handful of runs either side of the cricket.
2nd over: Pakistan 10-0 ( Imam ul Haq 2, Babar Azam 2) Harshit Rana at the other end, practitioner of an excellent heavy ball. Pakistan take a quick single from his first – not entirely convincingly. Harshit joins in the wide party with one down the legside as the smell of brewing coffee wafts in from the kitchen. Babar picks up a wristy couple off his hips.
1st over: Pakistan 6-0 ( Imam ul Haq 1, Babar Azam 0) The pitch looks like rolled oatmeal. Mohammad Shami has the ball, twists and turns at the top of his mark, the first ball is on the money, the second is wide and well stopped by the diving Rahul. Another wide, and then a third, a fourth, a FIFTH – this is all very helpful for Pakistan who had a dismally slow start against New Zealand, with lots of domestic pressure piling on the slim shoulders of Babar.
The ground doesn’t look full – yet – but the dominant shirt colour is definitely blue.
The anthems
Go off without incident. Cute children in white T-shirts look absolutely thrilled to be mascots. India huddle, and Babar and Imam stroll out.
“Morning Tanya.” Good morning Krishnamoorthy v!
“This is cricket classico!
“I grew up in the 80s and the 90s to see Pakistan regularly beating India with the unplayable Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis and Abdul Qadir and batsmen who appeared to have been stuck to the pitch with an adhesive. Miandad , Abbbas, Raza.
“Then the tables turned and have stayed turned. These days it is considered an upset if Pakistan wins but the match is seen, sadly, as a war between the two countries thanks to irresponsible behavior and politicians being politicians on both sides. The death of India Pakistan clash seen simply as a cricket match shall remain my greatest disappointment in life.”
The commentators chew over the conditions. A slow pitch, those who have done well are those who rotate the strike. A good score? 250 a bare minimum.
“Is there space behind the sofa?” asks Michael White. Of course, though give me a couple of minutes warning for a quick hoover.
Indian XI
India: Rohit Sharma, (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami
An unchanged side.
Pakistan XI
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (capt and wkt), Tayyab tahir, Salman Agha, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.
Imam-ul-Haq replaces Fakhar Zaman, who picked up an oblique injury against New Zealand.
Rizwan: It looks like a good surface. If you play an ICC event, every game is important. The boys are familiar with the conditions and we’ve done well in this ground as well. We lost the last game but it’s in the past for us. One change: Imam in for Fakhar.
Rohit: It’s not the same surface but looks similar to what we played on, in the last game. It could get slower. Great opportunity to come out and do what we do as a team. The way we played the last game...it wasn’t easy for us and we had to work our way. You want to test yourself and be under pressure. We’re playing the same team.
Pakistan win the toss and will bat
They wait for Ravi Shastri to finish his boxing-match exuberances. Rohit Sharma, all in royal blue, has his hand in his pocket; Mohammad Rizwan, in a lime green top, dark green trousers, tucks his hands behind his back. Rizwan calls heads – and heads it is!
A quick look back eight years to the 2017 Champions Trophy Final at The Oval, when Pakistan turned the tables upside down and beat India in the final, thanks to a fabulous century from Fakhar Zaman and a thrilling opening spell by Mohammad Amir.
The toss will be in about ten minutes, the day hot, hot, hot – 33 degrees at just after noon. The 1pm start means there won’t be any dew for the calling captains to consider.
Preamble
Hello! What better reason to roll out of bed on a Sunday morning than for India v Pakistan, cousin v cousin, grudge v gripe, cricket con passione.
We’re in Dubai today, due to the Indian government/BCCI’s refusal to play in Pakistan, and the match is a sell out. In fact it was a sell out within minutes of the tickets going public – expect a choppy sea of blue and green shirts, alongside the cacophony of noise,
The last time the two countries met in an ICC 50-over game was at Ahmedabad during the 2023 World Cup, India knocking off an easy win by seven wickets in the 31st over.
They’re huge favourites today too, and come into the game having beaten Bangaldesh on Thursday, thanks largely to a century from Shubman Gill and five wickets from Mohammad Shami. Pakistan, meanwhile, crashed and burned against New Zealand, losing by 60 runs, and face being knocked out early from the first ICC event they’ve hosted in 29 years.
But forget the stats deep-dive for now. This is Pakistan. This is Pakistan v India. Anything is possible.
Play starts at 9am GMT, and there’s plenty of space on the OBO sofa.
