Today at 13:30 GMT, or 8:30 a.m. ET, two powerhouses of the cricket world, India and Pakistan, will take the oval at the World T20 in Dhaka. Live stream the match for free by clicking this link.
The clash is highly significant, and India will enter it with shaken confidence after poor showings at the Asia Cup and in warm ups. They will need to get off to a hot start then, since Group 2 also includes Australia and the West Indies.
Pakistan will take the oval with no such worries on their brains; the question is whether their somewhat inconsistent lineup can match or surpass the effort of their fine bowling crew. Mohammad Hafeez will go a long way in determining that as Pakistan's primary table-setter for the heavy hitters.
On India's side, the pressure is on captain M.S. Dhoni, who has his biggest opportunity yet to prove his detractors wrong in their doubts about his ability to lead the squad. India's been crushed vs. South Africa as well as New Zealand, and the whole country seem to have lost faith in his capability to lead.
He's battling both negative perception as well as Pakistan's advantage in experience with T20Is; while India's played in just five since the last World T20, the Pakistanis have been in 15. They can draw from that experience to set aside their inconsistency and ride the raw talent of potential stars Sharjeel Khan and Shahid Afridi to important points.
STARTING SQUADS:
India
MS Dhoni (c/wk), Varun Aaron, Ravichandran Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Mohit Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh.
Pakistan
Mohammad Hafeez (c), Ahmed Shehzad, Bilawal Bhatti, Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Talha, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal (wk), Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar.
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