India won the toss and elected to bowl first in the marquee match against Pakistan in the 2023 ICC World Cup tournament.

The much-awaited fixture will kick off at 02:00 p.m. at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, with the hosts and their neighbours going into the match with two wins each.

India captain Rohit Sharma shared his thoughts on winning the toss: “Can’t get bigger than this. It is a fantastic atmosphere. It is what you dream for playing in front of a big crowd.

“It is a good pitch which is not going to change too much. Dew can be a factor in the second stage of the game.

“We don’t want to sit on our laurels. We want to keep striving for the best. It is a World Cup so every game is a new start.

“Keeping yourself relaxed and keeping the atmosphere within the team relaxed is important. Luckily we have some characters who keep things lively and fresh.

“Gill is back in place of Ishan. Unfortunate for him [Ishan] to miss out. I feel for him as he has stepped up for us, but Gill has been a superb player for India in the last year, especially at this ground here [for IPL team, Gujarat Titans].”

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s skipper Babar Azam said that they would have bowled first as well but added that the toss is not in their control. He mentioned that they have had two good games and stated that they would look to keep the momentum going. Azam shared that they want to enjoy the opportunity of playing in this jam-packed stadium. He feels that they have to improve in the field and have had two good sessions. He said they are going with an unchanged team.

Coming into this game, India boast a strong record of winning all seven matches against Pakistan in ODI World Cups, however, Pakistan too, are riding high on confidence after their last outing against Sri Lanka, where they successfully pulled off the highest run chase in World Cup history.

India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (capt),  Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Pakistan Playing XI: Abdullah Shafique,  Imam-ul-Haq,  Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel,  Iftikhar Ahmed,  Shadab Khan,  Mohammad Nawaz,  Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf