T20 World Cup 2021 live score: Pakistan and India will clash today at the Dubai International Stadium.
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| Pak vs India match live Pakistan will
kick off their T20 World Cup campaign today with a match against arch-rivals
India at the Dubai International Stadium. Billions of cricket fans across the globe will be glued to their television screens, and nearly 30,000 spectators will be inside the stadium to witness the match between the two former champions that will commence at 7:00pm Pakistan Standard Time. The match
will be covered live here. India won the
inaugural tournament in 2007 at The Wanderers in Johannesburg, beating Pakistan
by five runs, before Pakistan lifted the trophy in 2009 at Lord’s, defeating
Sri Lanka by eight wickets.  |
Pakistan and India first met in the T20 format
in the ICC T20 World Cup 2007 in Durban, which India won in Bowl-Out after both
the sides ended up on 141 runs each. Since, the two sides have played each
other four more times – including the 2007 edition’s final – in the T20 World
Cup.
On the ICC T20I Rankings, India is ranked second
and Pakistan third, just five points behind. New Zealand, Pakistan’s opponent
on Tuesday, is fourth with 257 points.
The Green Shirt’s victory in today’s encounter
will narrow the gap between the two sides to one point with India dropping to
264 points and Pakistan rising to 263 points, while a win on Tuesday over New
Zealand will potentially put Pakistan in second place on the ICC rankings.
From 2009 till 2019, when Test cricket returned
to Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates was Pakistan’s home ground.
In this period, Pakistan peaked to No.1 in the
T20I Team Rankings after winning 21 out of 36 T20Is with 13 losses and two tied
matches.
What did Pakistan and
India say?
In a virtual press conference ahead of the
crucial match, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam had played down his team’s poor
record against India, which sees no win so far in T20 World Cup.
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| Pakistan captain Babar Azam |
“Records are there to be
broken. What has happened in the past is history. We are looking to the future
without paying any heed to records. Players are in a good rhythm and hopeful
they carry that going into the opening match against India. We have got all the
required potential to beat them,” the skipper had said, dispelling an
impression of facing any undue pressure for the match.
Indian captain Virat Kohli, meanwhile, praised Pakistan's players
and said that there are more than a few capable players who can win matches
against any side.
“[The] Pakistan team has some of the most talented and capable
players having all the potential to win matches on the given day. So there is
no wisdom to take them lightly. They are fierce competitors. We have to play
our best cricket to beat them,” Kohli had said.
Squads:
Pakistan: Babar
Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik,
Asif Ali, Shahdab Khan, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf
and Haider Ali.
India (from): Virat
Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk),
Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran
Ashwin, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami,
Shardul Thakur.
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