Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan today (Feb 23) won the toss and opted to bat first in a crucial Champions Trophy match against India on Sunday, with his team looking to keep their semifinal hopes alive.

The highly anticipated Group A encounter at Dubai International Stadium, which has a 25,000-seat capacity, was expected to draw a full crowd. 

India is hosting the 50-over tournament in Dubai after refusing to tour Pakistan due to ongoing political tensions.

Defending champions Pakistan lost their opening match to New Zealand, and another defeat would nearly eliminate them from the tournament.

Imam-ul-Haq replaced Fakhar Zaman in the squad, as Zaman is sidelined due to injury from the first match.

India, who narrowly defeated Bangladesh in their opening game, have made no changes to their lineup.

India's captain Rohit Sharma downplayed the toss result, stating, "It doesn’t really matter, they (Pakistan) won the toss, so we’ll bowl first."

The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals.

Squads 

India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav.

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (capt, wk), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.

Umpires: Paul Reiffel (AUS), Richard Illingworth (ENG)

TV Umpire: Michael Gough (ENG)

Match Referee: David Boon (AUS)

BDST: 1557 HRS, FEB 23, 2025
MN/SMS