The Indian cricket team will be facing arch-rivals Pakistan cricket team on Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on October 24. India will be entering the match with an unbeaten record of 5-0 in World Cups against the Babar Azam-led team. While the pressure will be on Virat Kohli and co to maintain the unblemished record, Pakistan, with its strong batting line-up, will be looking to get at least a victory under its belt.

India has never lost a World Cup game (ODI and T20I format) to Pakistan, leading 12-0. While the Men in Blue will be licking their chops to make it 6-0, they will be wary of Pakistan’s T20 record at the same venue. They are unbeaten in 6 T20s in Dubai, dating back to 2016.

In the 50-over format, India has defeated Pakistan 7 times and in the 20-over format, India has won all 5 matches.

But what makes the match tricky for India?

Even though the Indian players have been acclimatised with the UAE’s nature of pitches, one can’t really count out the experience Pakistan has gained over the years as it has been their home-away-from-home for years.

“We know the conditions really well,” Pakistan captain Babar Azam said during the pre-tournament news conference.

“We know how the wicket will behave and the adjustments batters will have to make. On the day whoever plays the better cricket wins the match. If you ask me, we will win,” the Pakistan captain added.

Although Pakistan played its last match in the UAE in 2018, the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) stint has given the Indian players a little edge as matches were played in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

As per critics, due to that, the Indian squad has been loaded with four spin bowlers — Ravichandran Ashwin, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravindra Jadeja and Rahul Chahal.

In group 2 of the Super 12 stage, India and Pakistan are joined by New Zealand, Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia.