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Playing your first World Cup is one thing but featuring in your first India-Pakistan match in the World Cup, with all the over-hyping and brouhaha around it, is another. If some players on both sides see it as a big opportunity to make their name, you can't blame others for feeling the pressure of not making a mistake.
These are the moments when seniors need to become mentors. Virat Kohli would have got that in Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, among others in 2011. Babar Azam would have, too, from Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik in 2019. Calming down is important; reminders of 'it's just another game' are more crucial.
When the two neighbors take on each other in Ahmedabad on Saturday, there will be at least five players from both teams who'll be going to these feelings:
#5 Shreyas Iyer
India's No. 4 Shreyas Iyer's first ODI World Cup has gotten off to a slow start. He got out for a duck against Australia in Chennai and didn't get to bat much against Afghanistan in Delhi, scoring 25*. His form was a bit up and down in the lead-up to the World Cup after his recovery from a serious injury, too.
The pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium is expected to be flat and might suit Shreyas, although, due to his injury, he didn't play here even once during the IPL.
The right-handed batter has played just one ODI against Pakistan otherwise - in the 2023 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka - and scored 14 (9) in the washed-out game.
#4 Abdullah Shafique
Pakistan right-handed opener Abdullah Shafique is coming to this match in red-hot form. Asked to replace Fakhar Zaman just after the first match of the World Cup, he scored a brilliant, match-winning 113 (103) against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad.
Apart from that, the 23-year-old is quite un-tested for pressure situations in international cricket. In his only four ODIs before this World Cup, he had a 52 against Sri Lanka and three low scores against the Netherlands and New Zealand.
#3 Mohammed Siraj
India's new-ball in-charge Mohammed Siraj is also playing his first match of the World Cup. There have been a few muted calls to drop him from the 11 because he only has one wicket from two matches in the World Cup so far.
But Siraj has been one of the best bowlers for the Men in Blue in the last two years and recently bowled a spell of 6/21 against Sri Lanka in the 2023 Asia Cup final.
Although he didn't pick up a wicket against Pakistan in the Asia Cup despite bowling well, Babar Azam's side has struggled against the new ball this year and could help Siraj turn his tournament around on Saturday.
#2 Shubman Gill/Ishan Kishan
Shubman Gill missed out on India's playing 11 for the first two matches of the World Cup due to dengue fever. He returned to practice recently but isn't certain to play. In his absence, Ishan Kishan opened and recorded 0 and 47, respectively.
Whoever between them plays in Ahmedabad, would be featuring in his first World Cup match against Pakistan. India won't mind either because both of them scored one half-century each against the Men in Green in the Asia Cup.
While Gill has experience and runs to show in Ahmedabad from his time at the Gujarat Titans in the IPL (669 runs at an average of 66.90), Kishan offers a left-handed option at the top of the order to partner Rohit Sharma.
#1 Saud Shakeel
Like Shafique, Pakistan's middle-order batter Saud Shakeel hasn't played an ODI against India in all competitions. He's also in good form, though. Shakeel stitched together a crucial partnership with Mohammad Rizwan against the Netherlands, scoring 68 to win the Player of the Match, and followed it up with a decent 31 against Sri Lanka.
In overall eight ODIs, the left-handed batter has scored 175 runs at an average of 29.16 with a strike rate of 92.59. Shakeel might be given the important responsibility of taking on India's left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja in the middle overs.
