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The much-awaited clash between India and Pakistan is all set to get underway at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Sunday, February 23. While the match would be a do-or-die fixture for the defending champions Pakistan after they registered a 60-run defeat against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy 2025 opener, the Men in Blue are coming after a six-wicket win, which came on Thrusday, February 20 against Bangladesh.
As the two skipper, Rohit Sharma and Mohammad Rizwan took the field for the toss, it was the captain in green who won the toss and elected to bat first. After winning the toss, Rizwan said, “Will bat first, looks like a good surface. Want to put up a good target. Every match is important in ICC events, we will keep things normal. The boys are familiar with these conditions, we have done well here and we want to do our best today. We lost our last game, but it is past for us now.”
India losses 12th toss in row; becomes longest sequence for a team in ODIs
Seeing Rizwan come out on top in the toss war, India were handed their 12th straight toss defeat since the 2023 ODI World Cup. With this, it became the longest sequence for a team to lose a toss in ODIs, surpassing the record previously held by the Netherlands. The Dutch side had lost 11 tosses between March 2011 and August 2013.
Speaking after losing the toss, Rohit Sharma admitted that it doesn’t matter. “Doesn't really matter, they won the toss so we'll bowl first. Looks similar to the last game, the surface is on the slower side. We have an experienced unit in batting so we know what we need to do if the pitches get slower. Need an overall performance from the team - with bat and ball. The last game wasn't an easy one for us, which is always nice. You want to be under pressure and test yourself,” he added.
Pakistan vs India Champions Trophy 2025 Playing XI
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan(w/c), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
