India vs Pakistan: Harbhajan Singh names his playing 11, leaves out 2 big-name players

With practice and warm-up matches done and dusted, Team India's focus now shifts towards their opening match against Pakistan which will be played in Melbourne on Sunday, October 23. The last time these two faced each other was during the Asia Cup 2022 where India won the group stage match but lost to Pakistan in the Super 4 stage. The stakes will be high in the T20 World Cup match and former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh has revealed his playing XI for the IND vs PAK tie.

T20 World Cup: Harbhajan Singh reveals his playing XI for India vs Pakistan match 

Harbhajan Singh while picking his team for India vs Pakistan match made some tough calls which also included making major exclusions. Speaking to Star Sports, the former off-spinner named his playing XI for the Pakistan match in which Ravichandran Ashwin and Harshal Patel did not find any place. He said, "I feel the team is straightforward. I feel Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik and Axar Patel will be in the team. Yuzi Chahal will play along with them. After that Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami,". He added, " This is my choice. Harshal Patel might not get a chance. I feel Deepak Hooda and R Ashwin will not get a chance in the first few games. I am seeing this as the starting XI."

Harbhajan Singh's India playing XI for the Pakistan match: Rohit (c), Rahul, Kohli, Suryakumar, Hardik, Karthik (wk), Axar, Chahal, Arshdeep, Bhuvneshwar, Shami

Rohit Sharma sets sight on winning T20 World Cup 

The India vs Pakistan match on Sunday, October 23 will mark the beginning of the T20 World Cup campaign for both teams.  The last time India went on to lift the title was in 2007 and Rohit Sharma will be eager to repeat MS Dhoni's feat in the latest edition of the multi-nation event in Australia. Rohit Sharma in a video posted by bcci.tv has set the record straight by saying, "If individuals can keep themselves calm and composed during the game we will get the results that we are looking for. It has been a while since we won the World Cup. The motive and thought process is to win the World Cup but we know we need to do a lot of things right to get there. So one step at a time for us and focus on each team we are going to come against and not think about semis or finals."