India began their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign on a positive note, defeating Bangladesh in their opener. Rohit Sharma and Co. are now in second position in Group A and take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their upcoming fixture on Sunday. Due to political tensions between both countries, India didn’t travel to Pakistan for the tournament, and the match will be played in Dubai.
In terms of history in the format, Pakistan could stage a comeback in the tournament, especially against India. In ODIs, India trail 57-73 in terms of head-to-head. But since 2018, they have faced each other in six ODIs, and India have won all of those fixtures. In Champions Trophy, Pakistan lead 3-2, and beat India in the 2017 final.
Going into the match, India are not expected to make any changes, but they need to improve in certain aspects like the form of their ageing senior batters.
Skipper Rohit will open the innings with Gill, who got a match-winning unbeaten ton in the previous game. Rohit registered 41 runs off 36 balls, hitting seven fours, but he will regret that he failed to build on his fine start. He has been under criticism lately, alongwith Kohli, and their performances in this tournament could decide their future.
Kohli will slot in at no. 3, and was simply disappointing against Bangladesh. The former captain slowly reached 22 off 38 balls, and then lost his wicket to Rishad Hossain. Many Indian fans also took to X to remark that it was a pain to watch the senior star bat.
Like the previous fixture, Iyer will come in at no.4, and then we could see KL Rahul get promoted to no. 5. Rahul will also don the gloves for India. All-rounders Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel will bat at no. 6 and 7. Hardik didn’t get a chance to bat in the previous match, but Axar was promoted higher up the order. He failed to make an impact, getting dismissed for eight off 12 balls.
