Haris Rauf gave an animated send-off after dismissing Ishan Kishan during the Asia Cup 2023 match between India and Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Saturday. Kishan scored a brilliant half-century but he started struggling with cramps as the match progressed. The left-hander looked in trouble and he went for big shots in hunt for some quick runs. However, he ended up miscuing a delivery from Rauf and was caught comfortably by Babar Azam at mid-on. It was a big wicket for Pakistan as the Ishan Kishan-Hardik Pandya partnership was finally broken and Rauf's expression said it all.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat in the much-anticipated encounter. Shreyas Iyer made a comeback to the playing XI while Mohammed Shami missed out. The Indian cricket team included three pacers in Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah.
"We are going to bat first. There is a bit of weather around, but can't think much about it. Got to play good cricket, you need to embrace the challenge, embrace the situation. We had some time off after the West Indies series. Everyone was up for those drills and challenges in Bangalore. Let's see what we can achieve in this tournament. It's a quality tournament with quality oppositions. At the end of the day we need to see what we can achieve as a team. Iyer is back, Bumrah is back and we got three seamers," Rohit Sharma said at the toss.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan(w), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Pakistan (Playing XI): Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.