Babar Azam-led side has announced their 12-member squad leaving out Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar posted his playing eleven for Team India on the social media platform, Koo. India's T20 World Cup 2021 campaign begins with a showdown against Pakistan on Sunday (October 24) in Dubai.
Manjrekar left out Bhuvneshwar Kumar for Shardul Thakur in the playing eleven, and he's also going with mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy and ignored R Ashwin. Ashwin hasn't been a regular member of India's limited-overs cricket. In fact, he last played a T20I match for India in 2017.
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Apart from Varun and Shradul, the team has predictable players for the spot. Manjrekar included Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, and Jasprit Bumrah.
"Rohit Virat Rahul Surya Hardik Pant Jadeja Shardul Shami Bumrah Varun. My India playing XI for tonight. #IndvPak #T20WORLDCUP", he posted on Koo.
Both the teams have won the tournament once. India were the winners in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 when they beat Pakistan in the final. Pakistan went on to win the next tournament in 2009, defeating Sri Lanka at Lord’s. In head-to-head record, Pakistan have never beaten India at any cricket World Cup.