It's the biggest group stage match of the World Cup and with both sides undefeated, it promises to be a clash for the ages
India v Pakistan: All you need to know
They drew a crowd of more than 90,000 in Melbourne last October so you can guarantee Ahmedabad will be rollicking on Saturday night with a crowd of more than 100,000 expected at Narendra Modi Stadium to watch India and Pakistan in the biggest group stage match of the 2023 World Cup.
Match facts
Who: India v Pakistan (Day-Night)
When: Saturday, October 14. Coin toss at 7pm AEDT, first ball at 7.30pm AEDT (2pm local)
Where: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
How to watch: Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports and Channel Nine
How to listen: ABC Grandstand digital
Officials: Richard Illingworth and Marais Erasmus (standing), Richard Kettleborough (third), Chris Gaffaney (fourth)
Live scores: Match Centre
Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au and the CA Live app
The Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usama Mir
The story so far
Both sides head into the blockbuster clash undefeated with two comprehensive victories under their belts. India accounted for Australia by six wickets in their opening match in Chennai before a big century to skipper Rohit Sharma (131) helped crush Afghanistan by eight wickets with 15 overs to spare in Delhi.
Pakistan have also been in formidable touch, easily accounting for the Netherlands in Hyderabad by 81 runs before centuries to Abdullah Shafique (113) and Mohammad Rizwan (131no) inspired a record World Cup chase to overhaul Sri Lanka's 9-344 at the same venue four days later. India head into the clash third on the World Cup standings with four points and a net run-rate of 1.5, while Pakistan are in fourth also with four points and a net run-rate of 0.927.
2023 World Cup standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
IND
|
9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.261 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
AUS
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.841 | 0 | 14 |
|
4
NZ
|
9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.743 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
PAK
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.199 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
AFG
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.336 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
ENG
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.572 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
BAN
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.087 | 0 | 4 |
|
9
SL
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.419 | 0 | 4 |
|
10
NED
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.825 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
Local knowledge
The recently redeveloped Narendra Modi Stadium is the biggest cricket ground in the world with a capacity of 130,000, and it's expected at least 100,000 of those will be filled on Saturday night. Pakistan have won the only one-day international they've ever played there, when it was known as Sardar Patel Stadium before the redevelopment, chasing down India's 5-316 in a final ball thriller after a century to Sachin Tendulkar.
India last played ODIs here in February 2022, defeating the West Indies 2-1 with all three matches played at the Ahmedabad venue. India skipper Rohit has been the ground's top run-scorer in ODIs since 2010 with a half-century against the West Indies last year and a 95 against the same opposition back in December 2011.
The conditions have generally favoured the fast bowlers with 59 per cent of the wickets at the venue prior to this year's World Cup. That bodes well for this contest with both sides boasting world class pace attacks with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj set to go head-to-head with Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali.
The forecast in Ahmedabad on Saturday in "sunny and very warm" with a top of 36C and humidity reaching 57 per cent. The evening dew point is 21C. Batting first or second doesn't seem to matter too much at Narendra Modi Stadium with setting and chasing teams each winning five of the past 10 matches at the venue.
Predicted starting XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Pakistan: Imam ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
India captain Rohit revealed on match eve star opener Shubman Gill – the leading run-scorer in ODIs this year – was "99 per cent available" for Saturday's blockbuster clash after missing the opening two matches against Australia and Afghanistan with illness. The inclusion of Gill would mean stand-in opener Ishan Kishan misses out following a handy knock of 47 in the eight-wicket win over Afghanistan. The other selection dilemma for India is whether to include legendary off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin over pace bowling allrounder Shardul Thakur, but friendly conditions for the seamers in Ahmedabad could work in Thakur's favour. It's hard to see Pakistan changing a winning formula with Mohammed Rizwan and Abdullah Shafique both averaging above 100 with the bat for the tournament, while Hasan Ali has the equal third-most wickets for the World Cup so far with six alongside Indian counterpart Jasprit Bumrah.
Recent form
Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, N: no result
India: WWLWWWLWWW
The World Cup hosts carried their hot form into the tournament with two thumping wins over rivals Australia and Afghanistan. India tasted tournament success recently by winning the Asia Cup and will be keen to keep their undefeated streak against Pakistan in the 50-over World Cup alive having never lost to their neighbours in seven meetings in the tournament's history since they first met in Australia in 1992.
Pakistan: WWLLWWWWWL
This tournament is Pakistan's first tour to India since the 2016 T20 World Cup and they could have asked for a better start with wins in both of their matches, including a record World Cup chase against Sri Lanka as the cantered to their target of 345 with six wickets and 10 balls to spare.
"I don't focus on the past, I try to focus on the future," Pakistan captain Babar Azam said on match eve when asked about his side's winless record against India at World Cups. "Such records are made to be broken and (we) will try to give a good performance tomorrow."
Last time they met
India's thumping 228-run win in the Super Four stage of last month's Asia Cup will still be fresh in the minds of players from both sides. Kohli and Rahul both hit hundreds, and openers Rohit and Gill half-centuries, as rain in Colombo pushed the match into a reserve day. Kuldeep Yadav then picked up five wickets as Pakistan never got close to India's 2-356, bowled out of 128 in 32 overs.
Head-to-head
Overall: Pakistan (73 wins), India (56 wins), no result (5)
Past 10 years: India (6 wins), Pakistan (2 wins), no result (1)
Most runs: Sachin Tendulkar (2526), Inzamam-ul-Haq (2403), Saeed Anwar (2002), Rahul Dravid (1899), Shoaib Malik (1782)
Most wickets: Wasim Akram (60), Saqlain Mushtaq (57), Anil Kumble (54), Aaqib Javed (54), Javagal Srinath (54)
Where to next?
Pakistan head to Bengaluru to take on Australia next Friday who are still searching for their first win in the competition, while India face another subcontinent rival Bangladesh in Pune on Thursday.