AHMEDABAD: The high-octane clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan is just a few hours away at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Though both teams have quality players and proven match-winners, a lot of eyes will be on Virat Kohli and Babar Azam, the best batters of their respective teams.
India and Pakistan will lock horns against each other at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday. Men in Blue will be keen to extend their seven-match winning streak against Pakistan while the latter will be looking to ending their World Cup duck against Team India.
For either of these two results, it would be important that Virat and Babar click for their respective teams.
While Virat has established himself as an all-time great since his international debut in 2008, Babar is currently putting in some heavy work to establish himself as a future all-time great.
In 283 ODIs, Virat has scored 13,223 runs at an average of 57.74, with 47 centuries and 68 fifties in 271 innings. His best score is 183. He is the fifth-highest run-scorer in ODI history and second-highest run-scorer for India in the format.
In 110 matches, Babar has scored 5,424 runs at an average of 57.09, with 19 centuries and 28 fifties in 107 innings. His best score is 158. He is among the best current ODI players.
This year, Virat has played 18 ODIs, scoring 752 runs at an average of 62.66. He has scored three centuries and four half-centuries, with the best score of 166*.
Babar has also played 18 ODIs in 2023, scoring 760 runs at an average of 44.70, with two tons and six fifties in 17 innings, with the best score of 151. But the batter had a disappointing Asia Cup except for a ton against Nepal and has failed to score in the WC so far.
Since Babar’s international debut in 2015, Babar and Virat have played together quite a few times during major ICC tournaments or Asia Cup.
In these meetings, Virat has played nine innings, scoring 523 runs at an average of 87.16. He has scored one century and five half-centuries.
On the other hand, Babar has managed only 204 runs at a poor average of 29.14, with just one fifty in eight innings. So, it would be interesting to see which of these batters delivers an example of their supremacy.
This match comes after India’s two matches against the arch-rivals during a winning Asia Cup campaign. One match, held in the group stage was abandoned due to rain while India registered a thumping win in the next clash during the Super Four stage.
India and Pakistan have started their World Cup campaign with two wins in two games.
Fans will be hoping that megastars of Men in Blue, such as Virat Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj keep up with their consistent performances to continue the country’s winning streak with Pakistan in 50-over World Cups and come out with 8-0 win against the arch-rivals in the World Cup.
Both sides have faced each other seven times in ODI World Cup history, with India boasting a 100 per cent win record till now.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.
Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim. (ANI)