T20 World Cup: Sarfaraz Ahmed left out as Pakistan announce squad for India clash

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have announced a 12-man squad on the eve of their much-awaited clash with India at the T20 World Cup.

India and Pakistan face off against each other in the Super 12 of the underway T20 World Cup on Sunday (Oct. 24) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

The 2009 champions have left out wicket-keeper batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed, young seamer Mohammad Wasim Jr and all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz. However, Pakistan have picked their 21-year-old batsman Haider Ali, who did not feature in any of Pakistan's two warm-up matches against South Africa and West Indies. Ali had finished as the fifth-highest run-scorer in the recently-concluded National T20 Cup. It will be interesting to see if the young right-handed batsman bags a place in his side's playing XI for the big game against arch-rivals India on Sunday.

The squad includes three seamers in Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali and Haris Rauf, along with spin duo of Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim, who is expected to start against India. With Mohammad Hafeez and Fakhar Zaman almost certain to bag a place in the XI, there is a vacant spot in the middle-order as the PCB is expected to take a late call between Shoaib Malik and Haider Ali.

Pakistan's 12-man squad for T20 World Cup match vs India:

Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammed Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf.

India have an incredible lead of 12-0 in the head-to-head against Pakistan at the World Cup stage: 20-over and 50-over combined. In the Cricket World Cups, India have defeated Pakistan seven times, while in the T20 World Cups, India have triumphed in all five matches.

What makes the upcoming clash between the arch-rivals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium is that India has never lost a World Cup game to Pakistan in either the one-day or T20 formats, while Pakistan are unbeaten in as many as six T20s at the stadium dating back to 2016.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been played in the UAE the last two times. After the successful 2020 edition in the middle of the pandemic, the second half of the IPL 2021 was also shifted to the UAE after being suspended mid-year. For most of the players in the Indian squad, the UAE has become like a second home. Virat Kohli's side comprises four spin bowlers –Ravichandran Ashwin, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravindra Jadeja and Rahul Chahal – who are expected to slow down the innings of their opponents.

On the other hand, the UAE has been Pakistan's home away from home for many years now.

"We know the conditions really well. We know how the wicket will behave and the adjustments batters will have to make. On the day whoever plays the better cricket wins the match. If you ask me, we will win," Pakistan captain Babar told a pre-tournament news conference.

The last time India and Pakistan locked horns was during the 2019 Cricket World Cup in the UK. A century from Rohit Sharma aided the Men in Blue to win the game comfortably.