T20 World Cup 2021: Strongest India Predicted Playing XI against Pakistan

Aiming to end their drought of an ICC title, India will meet arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening clash of the T20 World Cup 2021. The marquee clash takes place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on October 24. With these two nations being arch-rivals, this encounter is highly awaited and both teams would be raring to cross the line.

It has to be noted that Pakistan are yet to defeat India in a World Cup event. Hence, the Men in Green would fight to defy history while the one in Blues would like to extend their winning streak. Having done well in T20Is lately, Virat Kohli’s men are being deemed favourites for this fixture. However, they can’t afford to put a foot wrong against the unpredictable Pakistan side.

Meanwhile, here’s the predicted Playing XI of India for T20 World Cup 2021 Match 16:

Openers – Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul  

During the T20I series against England earlier this year, Virat Kohli had said he would open the innings alongside Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup. However, KL Rahul’s stellar run in IPL 2021 caused a change in plans. Hence, Rohit and Rahul will be India’s openers for the Pakistan clash.

Both batters got half-centuries in the warm-up fixtures and would like to shine against the Men in Green as well. It would be interesting to see whether Rahul will look to play the anchor’s role or will attack from the outset.

Middle-Order – Virat Kohli (C), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant

India’s middle-order also seems pretty settled for the initial matches. Arguably the greatest batter of the modern era, skipper Virat Kohli would take the after the loss of the first wicket. Having bagged the Player-of-the-Tournament award in the previous two T20 World Cups, Kohli would be determined to replicate his heroics.

He’ll be followed by Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant, who have done well lately. The team management would have discussed accommodating in-form Ishan Kishan somehow. However, that doesn’t seem like happening at least for the first game.

All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja

There has been a lot of hullaballoo over Hardik Pandya’s selection in the Indian team as he hasn’t been bowling lately. However, Virat Kohli, while addressing the media, had said that Pandya would be a force to reckon with at the number six position. Hence, the Baroda-born cricketer would be raring to justify the team management’s decision.

Ravindra Jadeja would be the other all-rounder in the side. The southpaw was instrumental in taking Chennai Super Kings to the IPL 2021 title recently. While he bowled economical overs consistently, his big-hitting ability also helped CSK. He would like to shine in the national colours as well.

Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy

Selecting the bowling attack might be a bit of a hassle for the Indian team. While Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah are certain to take two of the last four spots, there will be some brainstorming for the other two spots. With Ravindra Jadeja being in the picture, only spinner could come and that should be Varun Chakravarthy.

At the same time, there would be a toss-up between Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur. The latter has been in stellar form lately and can contribute with the bat as well. However, Bhuvneshwar, who did well in the warm-up game against Australia, would be considered at least for the first game.

India’s Playing XI for Pakistan clash: Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy