It does not get bigger than this! It is the mother of all battles. It is the biggest match of the tournament. India will clash with Pakistan at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Sunday in what promises to be an absolute humdinger of a contest. This is not just a cricket match. It is passion. It is love. It is agony. It is joy. It is heartbreak. It is ecstasy! India beat Pakistan in the final of the inaugural T20 World Cup in Johannesburg in 2007 while Pakistan were the champions in 2009 in England beating Sri Lanka in the final. However, India have dominated the rivalry with their arch-rivals in T20 World Cups.

The two teams enter the contest with very different mindsets. India beat Ireland quite emphatically to start their campaign in New York while Pakistan was beaten by USA in a Super Over in Dallas. India have been in fine form in T20I cricket and have won their last 5 matches while Pakistan has lost three of their last 5 encounters.

Likely Playing XIs

India might make one change to their XI against Pakistan. They might get Kuldeep Yadav in place of Axar Patel. Pakistan is likely to replace Azam Khan with the left-handed opening batter Saim Ayub which may see Babar Azam drop down to number 3.

India likely XI

Batters - Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav

All-Rounders - Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya

Wicketkeeper - Rishabh Pant

Bowlers - Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh

Pakistan likely XI

Batters - Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Usman Khan, Fakhar Zaman

All-Rounders - Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed

Wicketkeeper - Mohammad Rizwan

Bowlers - Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Amir, Naseem Shah

Last Five Matches

INDIA - WWWWW

PAKISTAN - WWLLL

Player Statistics (India)

1. VIRAT KOHLI

Virat Kohli will be key for India at the top of the order. He has a great record against Pakistan especially in T20 World Cups. The rivalry gets the best out of the Indian genius and he raises his game against his biggest opponents. Kohli was in tremendous form in IPL 2024 where he returned as the leading run-scorer aggregating in excess of 700 runs at a strike rate of 150-plus. He is on attack mode against the spinners and is wasting no time in the powerplay. Kohli was the leading run-scorer in the 2014 and 2022 T20 World Cups.

VIRAT KOHLI IN T20 WORLD CUPS

INNINGS - 26

RUNS - 1142

AVERAGE - 76.13

STRIKE RATE - 130.66

50-PLUS - 14

2. JASPRIT BUMRAH

Jasprit Bumrah is an all-time great in white-ball cricket and will be lethal with the new ball on a helpful New York wicket. Bumrah was the bowler of the tournament in IPL 2024 and expect him to make massive inroads in the powerplay. He will also be India's go-to bowler in the death overs where he has the ability to produce the yorkers at will!

JASPRIT BUMRAH IN T20 WORLD CUPS

INNINGS - 11

WICKETS - 13

AVERAGE - 19.53

ECONOMY RATE - 6.09

4-PLUS - 0

Players who can make a Difference (India)

1. Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav did not have a great IPL season but is still rated amongst the best T20I batters in the world. SKY has the highest strike rate in the format's history - a staggering 171.2 - and has already hammered four hundreds and 17 fifties in just 58 innings. SKY is a 360-degrees batter whose unconventional stroke-play might just be the game-changer for India on Sunday.

2. Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav could be a match-winner for India on an unpredictable uneven-bounce wicket in New York. The Chinaman is a wicket-taker in white-ball cricket and has a brilliant record in T20I cricket where he has picked 59 wickets in just 34 innings at an average of 14.1, strike rate of 12.5 and economy of 6.74.

Player Statistics (Pakistan)

1. BABAR AZAM

Babar Azam is an all-time great in T20I cricket with an aggregate of 4067 runs in 113 innings at an average of 41.1 and strike rate of 129.8. Babar will hope to repeat his heroics of 2021 when he scored a match-winning half century in Dubai against India.

BABAR AZAM IN T20 WORLD CUPS

INNINGS - 14

RUNS - 471

AVERAGE - 36.23

STRIKE RATE - 113.22

50-PLUS - 5

2. SHAHEEN SHAH AFRIDI

Shaheen Afridi will be a handful with the new ball especially in helpful swinging and seaming conditions in New York. Afridi has a knack of picking wickets Ain the powerplay and invariably makes a breakthrough in the first over! Afridi has bagged 15 wickets in 48 innings in the first over.

SHAHEEN AFRIDI IN T20 WORLD CUPS

INNINGS - 14

WICKETS - 18

AVERAGE - 19.83

ECONOMY - 6.71

4-PLUS - 1

Players who can make a Difference (Pakistan)

1. Mohammad Rizwan

Mohammad Rizwan is the Mr Consistent for Pakistan at the top of the order. He has a fine record in T20Is and in T20 World Cups. Rizwan has an aggregate of 3212 runs in 86 innings at an average of 48.7 and strike rate of 128.1 with one ton and 28 fifties in T20I cricket. He will be the backbone of the Pakistan batting line-up.

2. Haris Rauf

Haris Rauf bowls at searing pace and can trouble the Indian batters on a bouncy pitch in New York. Rauf is also rated amongst the best death-over bowlers in white-ball cricket - in fact, no bowler has bagged more wickets than Rauf's 42 in the last four overs in T20I cricket since 2021!

Team Head to Head

India has dominated Pakistan at the T20 World Cup and has a 6-1 record against the arch-rivals in the tournament. India beat Pakistan by four wickets in a cracker of a contest at the MCG in 2022 - the last time these two sides clashed at the T20 World Cup.

INDIA vs PAKISTAN - HEAD TO HEAD RECORD

MATCHES INDIA WON PAKISTAN WON

Player Head to Head

1. VIRAT KOHLI vs SHAHEEN AFRIDI IN T20Is

INNINGS - 2

BALLS FACED - 22

RUNS SCORED - 34

STRIKE RATE - 154.5

DISMISSALS - 1

2. ROHIT SHARMA vs HARIS RAUF IN T20Is

INNINGS - 3

BALLS FACED - 13

RUNS SCORED - 12

STRIKE RATE - 92.3

DISMISSALS - 2

3. BABAR AZAM vs ARSHDEEP SINGH IN T20Is

INNINGS - 3

BALLS FACED - 7

RUNS SCORED - 6

STRIKE RATE - 85.7

DISMISSALS - 1

4. FAKHAR ZAMAN vs CHINAMAN IN T20s SINCE 2022

INNINGS - 5

BALLS FACED - 37

RUNS SCORED - 50

STRIKE RATE - 135

DISMISSALS - 3

Venue and Pitch

The Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York has hosted four matches out of which three have been won by the team batting second. Not surprising the team which has won the toss has opted to chase here on three occasions. The team batting first has been bundled out for less than 100 on two occasions while the average score batting first is 103/9 - the lowest amongst all venues so far in the 2024 T20 World Cup! The average score in the second innings is 102/5.

The wicket is a paradise for the bowlers with the toughest conditions for batting in the tournament. No team has crossed 150 batting first in New York! It is a dream wicket for the pacers who will get a lot of swing and seam especially with the new ball. The wicket has come under some criticism too due to its two-paced nature and unpredictability! The ball is sometimes bouncing awkwardly off a length while keeping low at other times. Pacers have accounted for 82% wickets at the venue at an average of 16.1, strike rate of 17.3 and economy of 5.6. However, the wicket has also aided spinners especially off a good length. The mean temperature will be in the early 20s but it might be slightly overcast though there is very little chance of rain.

Match Prediction

It will essentially be a contest between India's famed batting line-up and Pakistan's pace brigade! The match will be decided in India's batting powerplay where the likes of Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah are expected to make breakthroughs. Rohit Sharma will come out all guns blazing but it is Suryakumar Yadav, with his unorthodox stroke-play, who could be the trump-card for India in this high-octane encounter. Given the strength of both the teams and their historical record, it is India who start favourites with a 65% chance of victory.

Fantasy XI

And finally, this is our Fantasy XI for the INDIA vs PAKISTAN encounter. We have 6 players from INDIA and 5 from Pakistan. Kohli and Babar will open while SKY, Rohit and Rizwan will comprise the middle-order. Hardik and Shadab are the all-rounders and Bumrah, Afridi, Kuldeep and Rauf will constitute the bowling line-up. Kohli is our captain while Shaheen Afridi is our vice-captain.

Amongst our backup players we have included Fakhar Zaman as batter, Shivam Dube as the all-rounder and Arshdeep Singh as the bowler.

Openers: VIRAT KOHLI (c), BABAR AZAM

Batters: SURYAKUMAR YADAV, ROHIT SHARMA, MOHAMMAD RIZWAN

All-rounders: HARDIK PANDYA, SHADAB KHAN

Bowlers: JASPRIT BUMRAH, SHAHEEN AFRIDI (vc), KULDEEP YADAV, HARIS RAUF

BACKUP PLAYERS:

BATTER - FAKHAR ZAMAN

BOWLER - ARSHDEEP SINGH

ALL-ROUNDER - SHIVAM DUBE

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