Team India all-rounder Hardik Pandya is back where it all started – Australia – where he made his T20I debut back in 2016. Pandya is now one of the lynchpin of Rohit Sharma’s side and a critical member with both bat and ball in hand, having led Gujarat Titans to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 earlier this year.


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Pandya’s form will be crucial especially in India’s opening game against arch-rivals Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 match on Sunday (October 23). “I have many fond memories here, I made my T20 debut in Australia, and from there the journey has continued. It’s good to be back here, you can’t get a better place to play sport and enjoy,” Pandya told the official broadcasters after the toss on Sunday.


Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bowl first at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday. Pandya will be one of 4 pacers alongside Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.


“The body is fine, I think you should put that topic about my body on rest, you will see me bowling. We are playing international cricket, it’s not only about Pakistan bowlers,” he added.


In the last six India vs Pakistan T20Is have been all won by the side chasing with captains winning toss opting to field first every time. India winning four times and Pakistan twice.


“I think the ball will swing around a bit, and we need to take its advantage. Preparations have been good. We played a couple of practice games in Brisbane. Time to come out and enjoy ourselves now. We were expecting nothing less than this, hopefully we’ll entertain them (the crowd). We have seven batters, three seamers and two spinners,” Rohit Sharma said at the toss.



India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup 2022 Playing XI


Pakistan: Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Shan Masood, Haider Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah


India: Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik(w), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh