India vs Pakistan ICC ODI World Cup 2023: 5 player battles to watch out for

The dual between Shaheen Shah Afridi and Rohit Sharma will be crucial in gaining the early impetus in the India-Pakistan 2023 ODI World Cup match on Saturday.

We are almost 10 days into the 2023 ODI World Cup in India and have already been witnessed some thrilling action, both with the bat and the ball.

But on Saturday, the stakes for both participating teams will be higher than any other match in the tournament as India and Pakistan faceoff at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, in front of a capacity crowd.

Ahead of the fixture, here are five player battles to watch out for:

Shaheen Shah Afridi vs Rohit Sharma

The early matchups have usually setup many India versus Pakistan contests in the past and the one battle to look forward to on Saturday would be between Shaheen Shah Afridi and Rohit Sharma.

The right-hander has had his troubles with left-arm pacers in the past, but will come into the game, high on confidence after scoring his 31st ODI hundred against Afghanistan in New Delhi.

Babar Azam and co. will hope that Afridi will send Sharma back to the pavilion early on Saturday to give them the early impetus in the innings.

Haris Rauf vs Virat Kohli

A key matchup everyone will look forward to on Saturday will be the one between Rauf and Kohli, close to one year after the latter smashed the former for two sixes at the T20 World Cup game in Melbourne and paved the way for a thrilling win for the Men in Blue.

Kohli is coming into this game, on the back of two consecutive fifties against Australia and Afghanistan and it will be a test for Rauf to dismiss the right-handed batter early on Saturday.

Shadab Khan vs Hardik Pandya

A dual which began during the 2017 Champions Trophy final when Pandya smashed Khan for sixes to all parts of the The Oval will see another chapter on Saturday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

At the Asia Cup Group Stage game, Pandya was more at his calculated best against the leg spinner and looked to milk singles after India found themselves in early trouble. Khan's approach to Pandya on Saturday will be interesting to see, considering the boundary sizes at the venue and this battle could tastily setup the middle overs.

Ravindra Jadeja vs Mohammad Rizwan

On most days, this is a matchup that would favour Jadeja more than Rizwan, but on Saturday the latter will come into the match with renewed confidence having made 131 not out in 121 balls to help Pakistan chase down 345 runs and break the record for the highest score tracked down in an ODI World Cup match.

But what will encourage Jadeja is that whenever there has been a hint of turn on offer in the pitch, he has exploited the help to the fullest and produced magic balls like the one to Steve Smith in Chennai on Sunday and will hope to deliver a similar ball to dismiss Rizwan on Saturday.

Jasprit Bumrah vs Abdullah Shafique

Before the start of the tournament, many might have expected Bumrah to have a battle against Babar Azam. But on Saturday, his matchup during the initial overs will be up against a batter that not many would have predicted would standout as one of Pakistan's best batters, in the early stages of the tournament.

Abdullah Shafique was not part of Pakistan's scheme of things during the Asia Cup in September, but lack of form to batters such as Fakhar Zaman have meant that the Men in Green needed his services at the ODI World Cup.

In his first match on Tuesday, Shafique showed what he was capable of by making a 103-ball 113 in his side's successful chase of 345 runs against Sri Lanka, which would have certainly lifted the side's morale.

If Shafique needs to replicate that performance on Saturday, then he must get through the opening spell delivered by one of the best pacers in the world in Jasprit Bumrah, who has so far shown a knack to get early breakthroughs for India in this tournament and will be keen to do so, in this fixture as well.