MOHALI: India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has won the toss and decided to bat first in Wednesday’s blockbuster World Cup semifinal against Pakistan.
India made one change to the lineup which beat defending champion Australia by five wickets in the quarterfinals, bringing in paceman Ashish Nehra for Ravichandran Ashwin. Pakistan stuck with the 11 which thrashed West Indies by 10 wickets in the quarterfinal at Dhaka, opting against a recall for paceman Shoaib Akhtar.
The winner of this match will play Sri Lanka in the final at Mumbai on Saturday.
India has beaten Pakistan in all four previous meetings in World Cups, although Pakistan has won both of its ODI matches against India at this Punjab Cricket Associated stadium.
Squads:
India: M.S. Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh.
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (captain), Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Asad Shafiq Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Younis Khan.
Umpires: Simon Taufel (Australia) and Ian Gould (England)
Third umpire: Billy Bowden (New Zealand)
Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka) (AP)
