T20 World Cup: Team India takes the knee before Pakistan encounter

Team India
took the knee before the start of their much-anticipated clash against arch-rivals Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2021 at the Dubai International Stadium on
Sunday. While the Indians took the knee in support of the “Black Lives Matter”
movement, the Pakistan team stood by their side with their hands on their hearts.

Both
England and West Indies teams had taken the knee at the start of their game on
Saturday.

KL Rahul
has been selected to open over Ishan Kishan while Hardik Pandya keeps his place
in the lower-middle order for India as Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and opted
to bowl.

Speaking on
his decision, Azam said, “We are going to bowl first. We’ll look to take
early wickets and put pressure, dew is also a factor.”

The
27-year-old batsman also said he was confident about his team’s preparations
for the high-stakes game. “We have had good practice sessions and am
confident about our preparations. Pakistan’s bowlers are known to trouble other
teams but I am confident about our batting too.”

There was
much speculation over what the playing XI will look like for India, with
particular focus on whether an out-of-form Pandya, who is also not bowling at
the moment since a back injury, will be selected.

However,
skipper Virat Kohli, among others, had backed the Mumbai Indians all-rounder
prior to the match and kept faith in the 28-year-old with a chance to show his
worth against Pakistan.

“We
are pretty balanced with our squad and you need to be prepared for it. We need
to stay as professional as possible. We need to stay focussed on the
processes.”

The four
players excluded from the lineup are Rahul Chahar, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran
Ashwin, and Shardul Thakur.