T20 World Cup: India’s best playing 11 against Pakistan

Team India will head into the ICC T20I World Cup 2022 with an aim to win this title for the second time.

In last year’s T20 World Cup, India was knocked out in the league stage so, this time they will be looking to deliver a better performance in Australia.

The Rohit Sharma-led Indian team will play their opening match of the tournament against the arch-rivals Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23.

Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets in last year’s T20 World Cup and the men in blue will be keen to take their revenge in this edition. But the question is what will be India’s playing 11 for this big match? 

Hence, in this article, we will take a look at India’s possible playing Xi in the match against Pakistan in the T20 world cup 2022. 

Openers; KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma 

The captain and vice-captain will open the innings for team India. Both (Rohit and Rahul) have been playing excellent cricket at the top for India over the last few years. 

KL Rahul has scored 174 runs in 5 innings including 3 half-centuries in the recently concluded home series against South Africa and Australia. He also smashed a fifty in the warm-up match against Australia.

On the other hand, Rohit Sharma scored just 43 runs in 3 matches in the T20I series against South Africa and 74 runs in 3 games against Australia. So, he is struggling to score big runs despite getting good starts but Rohit will most probably gain his best form in the World Cup. 

Middle-order; Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya. 

The middle order of team India is looking quite lethal with the likes of Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and Dinesh Karthik.

Virat gained his form back in the Asia Cup 2022 where he also scored his much-awaited 71st hundred. Kohli was also among the runs in the home series against Australia and South Africa. 

Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav has been exceptional this year with the bat for India.

He has so far scored 801 runs in 23 innings including 6 fifties and a hundred in 2022.

He will be followed by Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik at 5 and 6. These two will play the role of finishers in the team.

Pandya bats with a strike rate of 150 plus and can be used as a 6th bowling option while Karthik can score quick runs and win games for India at crucial moments.  

Spinners; Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal

Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal will be the two spinners for India in the opening game against Pakistan.

Axar is replacing Ravindra Jadeja in this squad who got injured before the mage event.

The Australian conditions will also suit the left-arm spin of Axar so, he will be a key bowler for India in the middle overs. 

But Yuzvendra Chahal will be the main spinner in this lineup due to his wicket-taking ability. Chahal has already taken 21 wickets at an economy of 7.60 in 2022. 

Fast Bowlers; Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, and Arshdeep Singh 

Bhuvi, Shami, and Arshdeep are most likely to be part of India’s playing Xi against Pakistan.

Harshal Patel is also a strong candidate to be added to the lineup but Mohammad Shami’s spectacular last over against Australia in the warm-up match has turned things in favor of Shami. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead the bowling attack in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and he will be a key weapon for India with the new ball due to his swing.

Mohammed Shami is a wicket-taking bowler and his inclusion will also add more experience to the bowling attack.

Arshdeep also had a good start to his career and he will get a lot of experience from this World Cup