Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 22 : Ahead of the much-awaited clash between India and Pakistan in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai on Sunday, former cricketer Yusuf Pathan shared his thoughts on the encounter where he said that there would be pressure on the Men in Green as they have already lost one match in the competition.
In the clash of the heavyweights, Pakistan will fight to keep its title defence alive by facing bitter rival India. Pakistan found themselves in this position after surrendering to a 60-run defeat against New Zealand in the tournament opener.
If the Men in Green continue their shambolic run against India on Sunday, they will need plenty of permutations and combinations to work in its favour and keep its campaign alive. Wassan believes the tournament will become much more exciting if Pakistan emerges victorious in the high-stakes encounter.
"India has started well in Champions Trophy, and we have won one match while Pakistan has lost their match, so the pressure will be on them (Pakistan)... the match will be good," Yusuf Pathan told the media.
Unlike the 50-over and T20 World Cups, Pakistan has a 3-2 advantage over India in the Champions Trophy, having secured a 180-run triumph in the 2017 final during the peak of star India batter Virat Kohli where no target was too much for his men. They will be heading to Dubai with plenty of momentum.
Pakistan kicked off its campaign on a losing note against New Zealand, whereas on the other hand, India sailed to a comfortable six-wicket win against Bangladesh to open its win account.
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.