Gary Kirsten had his first taste of the agony associated with being a Pakistan cricket supporter when the new head coach of the men’s side saw the team crumble to a super over loss against USA in their opening match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

Pakistan’s defeat against the tournament debutants and co-hosts was amongst the biggest shocks in the game’s history, but Kirsten believes his players have “moved forward” and are now focused on the challenge ahead.

The challenge, incidentally, cannot get any bigger than a must-win World Cup match against historic rivals India.

“There’s no need for me to motivate the team for this game,” Kirsten told reporters on Saturday.

The South African, who was in charge of the Indian team when they won their second ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011, said the atmosphere could be “a little bit different” because the game is not being played in India or Pakistan but expects plenty of support for both teams at the New York venue.

Kirsten admitted that the pitch will be difficult to bat on, and bowlers from both sides will have an advantage.

“The batters are going to have to play with courage, assess the conditions, assess what a good score could be on this wicket [if we bat first] and then make sure we get a competitive total.”

India’s captain Rohit Sharma agreed with Kirsten’s assessment, and said his team will have to assess the wicket “very quickly” and adjust accordingly.

Rohit’s side has the advantage of having played two games on the pitch, one of which was their tournament opener against Ireland. India completed the tricky chase thanks to Rohit’s half-century, but the captain had to retire hurt after being hit on the arm.

The experienced batter said he will play his innings in “a very balanced way”.

“I don’t want to be too aggressive or too cautious, but someone has to put pressure on the bowlers to try and do something different.  Otherwise, it’s a very easy game [for the bowlers].”

Pitch and weather conditions

The condition of the pitches at the Nassau County Stadium has steadily improved over the past four games, but it still has an element of unpredictability. However, it is still expected to favour seam bowlers and both sides have plenty of those in their lineups.

Following criticism from fans and ex-players, the International Cricket Council (ICC) admitted the pitches were not up to standard and that ground staff were working on remedying them.

The India-Pakistan match is expected to be played on a new surface.

Weather could have a say in the match as there is a forecast for rain in the morning.

Form guide

Both teams enter the match with contrasting forms.

India have won two of their last three T20I series at home and away, and managed to beat Ireland in their opening game.

Pakistan couldn’t have had a worse start to their campaign, which also comes on the back of a 2-0 series loss against England and 2-1 scrape past Ireland.

India: W W W W W
Pakistan: L L L W W

India team news

India are unlikely to tinker with the XI that got them past Ireland in the opening game, but there could be a case for bringing in Kuldeep Yadav in place of Axar Patel given the former’s success against Pakistan’s captain.

Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Pakistan team news

Pakistan’s coach Kirsten evaded questions about his side’s playing XI and also stopped short of Wasim’s inclusion in the side despite the all-rounder being declared fit.

Azam Khan’s poor run of form could see him drop out in favour of young opener Saim Ayub, while the vastly experienced Wasim could slot in for Iftikhar Ahmed.

Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan, Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abbas Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed

Key match-ups

• Virat Kohli vs Mohammad Amir
• Rohit Sharma vs Shaheen Shah Afridi
• Babar Azam vs Kuldeep Yadav
• Rishabh Pant vs Shadab Khan
• Mohammad Rizwan vs Arshdeep Singh