India won the toss and opted to bowl against their arch-rivals Pakistan in the high-octane final of the Champions Trophy at the Kennington Oval in London today.
After winning the toss, Indian skipper Virat Kohli said that they are not taking Pakistan for granted and are looking forward to put their best foot forward.
“Nice and hard wicket. There’s a fresh wicket, even grass covering and we’d like our bowlers to exploit it. Then we like chasing. No matter the conditions, you have to play good cricket. One more effort to go. I’m sure the guys will give it their best shot. If you make the finals, you’ve played really good cricket. We don’t take oppositions for granted and today is no different. No matter what they bring, we are believing in our abilities,” Kohli said.
Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed, on the other hand, said that they too would have elected to bowl first had he won the toss, adding that they are looking forward to post more than 300.
As far as Playing XI is concerned, India are going with the same team that registered a nine-wicket win over Bangladesh in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has made one change in the squad. Fast bowler, Mohammad Amir has recovered fully from back spasm and has been recalled in the playing XI in place of Ruman Raees.
It was exactly two weeks ago when the Virat Kohli-led side thrashed Pakistan by 124 runs in their opening match of the eight-team marquee event at Edgbaston.
If India manages to clinch the victory at the Oval today, they will become the first team to win the Trophy three times and join Australia as the second team to defend the title.
Meanwhile, Pakistan would consider it as a golden opportunity to avenge their first match defeat against India and clinch their maiden title.
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (WK), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah.
Pakistan Playing XI: Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (C, WK), Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan.