India seek to level series in must-win T20 tie against Pakistan on Friday in Ahmedabad.
India suffered a five-wicket drubbing in the series opener in Bangalore after a middle-order collapse, which saw the hosts struggle to 130 for nine after being 90 for two at one stage.
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The hosts desperately need to win the second game to level the series and the pressure will be on captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men to deliver the goods when it matters the most.
Apart from Gautam Gambhir (43) and Ajinkya Rahane (42), all the other batsmen failed to apply themselves when confronted against a strong bowling attack spearheaded by the experienced Umar Gul.
In fact, all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina were the only ones other than the openers to have reached the double figures.
India would need the likes of Virat Kohli, Dhoni, Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma to regroup and fire in unison against the traditional rivals who are also equally determined to clinch the T20 series.
The defeats have come at home, where the team is playing in familiar conditions, and Dhoni has a tough task in lifting the morale of the team.
Teams (from):
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Ashoke Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Parvinder Awana.
Pakistan: Mohammed Hafeez (Capt), Nasir Jamshaid, Kamran Akmal, Umer Akmal, Umer Amin, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammed Irfan, Junaid Khan, Sohail Tanveer, Umer Gul, Asad Ali, Zulfiqar Baber, Ahmad Shahzad.
On-field umpires: Sudhir Asnani and Vineet Kulkarni
3rd umpire: C Shamshuddin
Match Referee: Roshan Mahanama
Match starts at 5 pm (IST).
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