IND vs PAK 2022: “Utsav ki taiyari karo”- Fans react ahead of India's T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan

The highly-anticipated T20 World Cup clash between India and Pakistan will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday (October 23). A victory against Babar Azam and Co. will help the Men in Blue avenge their defeats at the Asia Cup 2022 (Super four Stage) and the 2021 T20 World Cup.

Rohit Sharma-led Indian team are heading into the showpiece T20 event with high hopes of ending their 15-year drought to win their second T20 World Cup title. India will look to start on a winning note against Pakistan to set up momentum for the rest of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Pakistan will aim to continue their impressive form against India in the last 12 months (two wins in the previous three T20Is).

The threat of rainfall looms over the blockbuster T20 World Cup clash. Though fans are delighted for the contest, rain could play a spoilsport as the two Asian giants take on each other in Melbourne. Here are some of the reactions.

“We have to be prepared for whatever comes our way”- Rohit Sharma on rain threat in Indo-Pak clash in T20 World Cup

India skipper Rohit Sharma acknowledged Sunday's rain threat in the Indo-Pak clash. He said the Men in Blue are ready for a rain-curtailed encounter as these things are not under control.

As per the Australian Government’s Bureau of Meteorology, there is a 2-5 mm possibility of rainfall (afternoon showers), i.e., 70 percent chance of rain in Melbourne on October 23.

India are placed alongside Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the Netherlands in Group 2.

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Shami.

Standby Players: Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Shardul Thakur.

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Shan Masood.

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James has been covering cricket news for Sportskeeda for 3+ years with over 1 crore readership. He has been following the game since 2002 and has not looked back since. A breaking news specialist, he has a previous 3-year work experience at Times of India, English Jagran, NDTV and others, covering all news categories, including sports.

James holds a Master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism and a diploma in Sub-editing and Design which shaped his sports reporting career. During the course of his education, he learned about the 5W1H format, fact-checking, ethics, SEO, pyramid structure, etc, which enable him to produce compelling content for his readers. His exploits in reporting have led him to exclusively cover numerous ICC events and IPL.

James comes from Jharkhand and is highly inspired by legendary India captain MS Dhoni. He is a staunch supporter of the ICT and is loyal towards the CSK. When not immersed in his favorite sport, James likes watching Bollywood songs.

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