Hardik Pandya misses Asia Cup final, Rinku Singh gets call-up

In a big setback for Team India ahead of the Asia Cup final against Pakistan, Hardik Pandya has been ruled out due to injury. Pinch-hitter Rinku Singh will replace Pandya.

Hardik played against Sri Lanka in India’s thrilling victory but could bowl only a single over, in which he dismissed Kusal Mendis.

Pandya is one of those all-rounders who can turn a game on its head, but Rinku Singh looks like a solid replacement, being a swashbuckling batter capable of taking any bowling attack to the cleaners. India’s bowling, meanwhile, has been bolstered by the return of Jasprit Bumrah and the inclusion of Shivam Dube, replacing Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh.


Teams:
Pakistan (Playing XI): Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha(c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris(w), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed

India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy

India has won the toss and opted to bowl first.