India vs Pakistan Predicted Playing 11 - T20 World Cup 2022

The T20 World Cup 2022 has got underway this week, with the Group A and B matches playing out to decide who will join the eight already qualified nations in the Super 12 phase of the tournament.

This phase of the T20 World Cup 2022 begins over the weekend, and will see 12 teams competing in two pools. Each side will play the other five teams in their group, before the top two from each will progress to the knockout phase of the competition.

India and Pakistan have been drawn together each other in Group 2. The two sides will play each other in their opening match of the T20 World Cup 2022 on 23 October, and with world No.3 South Africa also in Group 2, this match will go a long way to determining who qualifies for the semi-finals, and who struggles to make it out of the group.

Below, we breakdown our predictions for each team’s playing 11 ahead of Sunday’s India vs. Pakistan match up.

India’s Predicted Playing 11 for India vs. Pakistan

As the No.1 ranked side in T20 cricket, India head into the T20 World Cup 2022 second favourites to win the title. They have won their last 4/5 T20Is, and look to have settled on a solid starting line up.

Here’s India’s likely playing 11 for their match against Pakistan on October 23:

Some parts of India’s playing 11 are rock solid, while other positions have a little more contention. Below, we outline our reasoning for each prediction, along with a bit of information on each player.

Specialist Batters: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav

India’s top four have to be one of their greatest areas of celebration heading into the T20 World Cup 2022.

There’s virtually no question about any of these players making the starting line up in a crucial match like this one, and the only time one of these four will miss out will likely be in later matches for rest.

The opening partnership of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma has been fantastic both recently, and historically for India. This time last year, the two provided India with an excellent platform in all of the T20 World Cup 2021 matches they played together, with the exception of their first fixture. Recently, they have been solid, with Sharma scoring a half century this week in the warm up against Australia, while Rahul got one against South Africa two weeks ago.

Virat Kohli has also returned to form, striking 485 runs in his 14 T20Is this year, with a high score of 122* to go with four half centuries. The star brings excellent experience with 109 T20Is to his name, and 3712 runs. He will pair with Suryakumar Yadav in the middle order, who is also in hot form, having struck 575 runs at 180.81 in 2022, with one century and three half centuries.

If India are to succeed against Pakistan on the weekend, it will likely take a match winning performance from one of these top four batsmen.

Wicket Keeper: Dinesh Karthick

Slightly more contentious, is the selection of Dinesh Karthick or Rishabh Pant.

Both are excellent strikers of the ball, and can wear the keeper’s gloves as well. India seem to be preferring Karthick at the moment, because of his incredible ability to come in and smash the ball from the very first delivery. He has played the last three matches ahead of Pant, for scores of 20 from 14, 46 from 21 and 17 from 7.

Expect Karthick to get the nod ahead of Pant, with the veteran keeper knowing he’ll have to perform to keep his place in the starting line up.

All Rounders: Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel

India’s selection of all rounders is also a tricky decision, with the choice being made slightly easier courtesy of Ravindra Jadeja suffering an injury.

Hardik Pandya is a sure thing, given his known talent with bat and ball. Recently he has been rested for the T20I series against South Africa, and made a subdued return against Australia in their warm up match a few days ago, falling for 2 off 5 and being hit for 29 from his three overs. However, this time last month he hit 71 off 30 in India’s opening T20I against Australia, and is sure to be included in the line up.

More neck and neck are the two spinners Axar Patel and Ravi Ashwin, who are both wicket taking spin options and handy hitters down the order. Patel seems to be favoured more recently in the line up, and was crucial in India win over South Africa three weeks ago with figures of 1/16 off his four overs.

There’s an outside chance India would look to take both Patel and Ashwin, and opt not to play Yuzvendra Chahal or Hardik Pandya instead.

Specialist Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal

An injury to India’s lead fast bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, has meant that the starting line up of specialist pace bowlers has come under particular scrutiny.

Fellow veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar now has the job of spearheading the attack at each end of the innings, and will likely be joined by Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel. Both are relatively inexperienced, and will be required to take a step up if they are to fill the big shoes of Bumrah. They showed glimpses of being able to do this against South Africa recently however, where they combined for five wickets at a healthy economy rate.

Should India want to err on the side of experience, however, they could take a risk and throw Mohammad Shami into the deep end. The veteran has been representing India in T20Is since 2014, but hasn’t played in over a year, with the exception of this week’s warm up match, where he took 3/4 in his one over.

Yuzvendra Chahal is most likely to secure the specialist spinner position, and has been consistently economical in 2022 taking 21 wickets in 19 games at 7.60.

Pakistan Predicted Playing 11 for India vs. Pakistan

World No.3 Pakistan have also been in fine form heading into the T20 World Cup 2022, having recently won a tri-series against New Zealand and Bangladesh, and taken England to a seventh game in their T20 series as well.

The men in green are expected to name a strong playing 11 for the opening match against India, and here’s how we think it will look:

Again, some players’ positions in this line up are more secure than others. Below, we provide a brief explanation of this playing 11, and a little detail on each player.

Specialist Batters: Babar Azam, Khushdil Shah and Asif Ali

Babar Azam has been in fine form at the top of the order, and will again captain the side in this opening match against India. With 3231 T20I runs across 92 appearances, the 28-year-old brings both experience and form, having recently struck 55 off 40 against Bangladesh a week ago, as well as 79 off 53 against New Zealand the week before.

Khushdil Shah and Asif Ali are less certain of their positions, but still likely to get the nod ahead of the likes of Shan Masood, Fakhar Zaman and Haider Ali. Shah’s last performance was a golden duck two days ago, after getting recalled into the starting line up. Asif Ali, on the other hand, has been a constant in the Pakistani side, without impressing. His best score in recent times has been 25 off 20 against New Zealand a week ago.

With the exception of their openers, the batting for Pakistan is their main area of concern. While Shah and Ali may well get selected for this match against India, they will know their positions are at risk if they fail to perform.

Wicket Keeper: Mohammad Rizwan

Another certainty in this Pakistan team is Mohammad Rizwan, who will keep wickets and open the batting alongside Babar Azam.

The experienced opener has been in fine form this year, smashing 821 runs at an average of 54.73 and strike rate of 126.30 from his 18 T20Is in 2022. In the last three weeks he has scores of 69 off 56, 78 off 50 and 63 off 46 at the top of the order for Pakistan, and is providing much needed consistency for his country at the top of the order.

Baring injury or rest, Rizwan will not only be starting against India, but every match that Pakistan play in this T20 World Cup.

All Rounders: Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz and Mohammad Wasim

Pakistan will likely play four all rounders, three of which are bowling all rounders.

Iftikhar Ahmed will be chosen primarily for his batting, though he does have the ability to chip in with an over in the middle of the innings from time to time. Ahmed has been solid without exceptional for Pakistan, with recent scores of 22 from 18, 25 from 14 and 27 from 27. While he’s done enough to secure a place in the starting team, Ahmed will be after a big score to prove he belongs at this level.

Shadab Khan is Pakistan’s lead all rounder, and has been a consistently economical wicket taker for Pakistan. His contributions with the bat have often not been required, but the 24-year-old is more than capable here too.

The two Mohammads, Nawaz and Wasim will fill out the middle order and support the bowling stocks for Pakistan. Both offer great bowling and batting options, with Mohammad Nawaz particularly impressive striking 45 off 20 against Bangladesh last week.

Specialist Bowlers: Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Hasnain

Star fast bowler Shaeen Afridi looks to return for Pakistan in this match, after a long period sidelined through injury.

When Afridi is on, he’s on—just ask India, whose top order was decimated by the young pacer this time last year in their ten wicket loss to Pakistan. Questions over his form and fitness remain, however he was able to bowl 2/29 in the team’s no result match against Afghanistan this week, slightly allaying any concerns over his performance.

Afridi will likely be supported in the pace bowling department by Haris Rauf and Mohammad Hasnain, with Naseem Shah missing out on a spot in the starting line up. Rauf also took two wickets in the recent warm up match against Afghanistan, to go with the two he took in the tri-series final against New Zealand last week. Hasnain, on the other hand, has been irregular in the starting team, but looks likely to get the nod ahead of Shah due to his extra speed with the ball.

No specialist spinner will be picked, with Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz providing spin options.

India are favourites heading into Sunday’s match, but with recent form on their side, Pakistan will fancy themselves an upset when the two teams meet on 23 October in the T20 World Cup 2022.