India could welcome back Shubman Gill as they bid to continue their World Cup stranglehold over Pakistan in front of more than 100,000 fans and an audience of up to one billion viewers worldwide.
Fraught relations between the neighbouring countries mean their only showdowns in the last decade have been at multi-team events, with India winning seven out of seven contests at the 50-over World Cup.
They are favourites to extend that record at the 132,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which will be a sea of blue as thousands of Pakistan fans have been unable to secure Indian visas.
Gill, the leading run-scorer in ODIs this year, may return for the tournament’s marquee fixture, having sat out India’s wins over Australia and Afghanistan after being laid low by a bout of dengue fever.
He batted in the nets on Thursday and India captain Rohit Sharma, a centurion against Afghanistan on Wednesday, said of his fellow opener: “99 per cent he is available. We’ll see.”
If Gill, who possesses an incredible average of 66.1 and 102.84 strike-rate from 35 ODIs, is selected then Ishan Kishan will almost certainly make way as the hosts look to make it three wins from three.
Rohit, though, refused to divulge whether India will restore Ravichandran Ashwin to the line-up and go with a three-prong spin attack also including left-armers Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.
“I don’t know, honestly,” he said. “We are ready for whatever combination we want to play. If the requirement is there for us to play three spinners, we will play three spinners.”
Rohit also rejected the notion home advantage could count against India, adding: “You feel nice about playing in front of your home crowd. They get behind you no matter what the situation of the game is.
“My overall experience playing, not just in India, even outside India, we get massive support. I look at this as a good advantage, big advantage. But you’ve got to play good cricket to win the game.”
Pakistan captain Babar Azam needed no reminding of the one-sided nature of the rivalry, with India winning by 89 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in their last fixture in Manchester in 2019.
But Babar insisted Pakistan can take comfort from their 2017 Champions Trophy final win over their adversaries as well as a stunning 10-wicket triumph at the 2021 T20 World Cup in Dubai.
“I don’t focus on the past, I try to focus on the future,” Babar said. “Such records are made to be broken and I try to break them.
“We were not able to execute in the past, but we changed it in 2021 and 2017. We won against India in the World Cup. We hadn’t done that before, but we did it.
“We believe that we can do it and we will go with full confidence.”
Babar is the top-ranked ODI batter in the world but has had a modest start to the tournament with innings of five and 10 in Pakistan’s wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka.
“My World Cup till right now has not been as it should have been,” he added. “But hopefully you will see some difference in the next matches.”
CG United Super50 Cup final between Scorpions, Pride abandoned due to inclement weather
The CG United Super50 final between the Jamaica Scorpions and the Barbados Pride was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to the inclement weather at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Saturday.
Barbados Pride, with six titles plus one shared, were hoping to break a mini drought having last won in 2016-17, while Jamaica, with eight titles plus one shared, had ambitions to get back to the summit as their last title was in the 2022-23 season.
Greaves’ maiden century powers Windies to control on day two as Bangladesh reeling at 40-2
West Indies took firm control of their opening Test match against Bangladesh as Justin Greaves’ maiden century piloted the Caribbean side to a mammoth first innings total of 450-9 declared at the Sir Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua on Saturday.
The hosts then restricted Bangladesh to 40-2 at the close of day two, leaving the visitors with a steep challenge ahead as they look to recover from a poor start.
Mominul Haque, not out on 7, and Shahadat Hossain, unbeaten on 10, will resume on Sunday with Bangladesh at 40-2, still trailing by 410 runs.
Greaves, who enjoyed sublime form in the Super50 Cup with three consecutive centuries, continued that rich vein of form with an unbeaten 115 that anchored West Indies’ innings and ensured a daunting total on the board.
The 30-year-old’s knock, which lasted just over six hours, had only four boundaries and was crucial in reviving the innings after a mid-session slump.
Scores: West Indies 450-9 dec; Bangladesh 40-2
West Indies resumed the day at 250-5 with Greaves on 11, and Joshua da Silva, 14, looking to consolidate their position. However, early breakthroughs from Bangladesh’s Hasan Mahmud threatened to derail the West Indies’ momentum.
Mahmud struck in the first session, removing da Silva without addition to his overnight score, and Alzarri Joseph (four), who also fell cheaply to leave West Indies at a precarious 261-7.
At that point, the Bangladesh bowlers seemed poised to bowl the Caribbean side down for a score under 300, but Greaves and veteran pacer Kemar Roach had other ideas.
The two Barbadians countered the pressure with patience, building a partnership of 140 runs for the eighth wicket that pushed West Indies past the 400-run mark.
Roach, who had previously struggled with the bat in Tests, made 47—his highest Test score in his 15-year career. He batted for over four hours, frustrating the Bangladesh bowlers with steady defence and timely strokes.
Together, Roach and Greaves weathered the storm, forcing Bangladesh to toil longer and harder than expected. Greaves, in particular, looked in complete control, while Roach’s composed knock provided vital support.
West Indies then made quick inroads in Bangladesh’s reply and reduced the visitors to 2-21, with both openers back in the pavilion cheaply. Alzarri Joseph was the first to strike, removing Mahmudul Hasan Joy for just five runs before Jayden Seales cleaned up Zakir Hasan for 15.
With Bangladesh struggling at 2-21, it seemed as though West Indies were on the brink of another quick domination as they sought to dismiss the Bangladesh top-order cheaply. However, Mominul Haque and Shahadat Hossain managed to negotiate the remainder of the day without further loss.
Australia have 'serious work to do' against India, McSweeney concedes
Nathan McSweeney conceded Australia have "serious work to do" if they are to get back into the first Test against India.
The Baggy Greens trail by 218 runs heading into day three in Perth after an unbroken century partnership of Yashasvi Jaiswal (90) and KL Rahul (62) put the tourists well in control at 172-0 at stumps.
Though they resumed at 67-7, Australia could only add another 37 runs and were bowled out for 104.
McSweeney acknowledged the hosts must improve, and quickly.
"It definitely hasn't gone to plan in the past couple of days," he told ABC. "We've got some serious work to do to get back into this Test. It looks like it is getting easier to bat, so hopefully we get early wickets tomorrow and get batting.
"It is definitely a new-ball wicket. All the damage was done before we could get through to the 35-40-over mark with the bat, so the trick will be nullifying the new ball and having batters in for the 40-80-over mark."
Former Australia head coach Darren Lehmann added: "It was a tough day, but hats off to the two Indian batters. They were excellent today and weathered the storm, and they got to the stage where they could take the game on.
"India are well ahead of the game. The wicket has settled down a little bit, but that is more because the Australia bowlers were tired from the first innings and having to bat two hours today."
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