Team India and Pakistan gear up for the ICC Champions Trophy match number 5 on Sunday in Dubai. Co-hosts Pakistan lost their tournament opener against New Zealand by a whopping margin of 60 runs in Karachi. On the other hand, India beat Bangladesh by six wickets on Thursday in Dubai. This match is a must-win for Pakistan who will then stay alive in the tournament. If India win, then the Men in Green will be virtually knocked out. Notably, defending champions Pakistan beat India in the 2017 Champions Trophy final. India would be keen to make amends and get a win to seal semi-final progression in the 2025 event.

The two teams have played a strong brand of cricket in ODIs of late. India outsmarted England 3-0 at home. Pakistan won successive ODI series against Australia and South Africa away. However, they lost to New Zealand in the ODI tri-series final earlier this month before going down once again in the Champions Trophy opener.

In terms of the head-to-head record, the two sides have met each other 135 times, as per ESPNcricinfo. Pakistan have the edge, winning 73 times, whereas, India have claimed a total of 57 wins.

5 matches have not had results.

Ahead of the match, here we decode 5 major key battles between the two teams.

Shaheen Afridi vs Rohit Sharma

Shaheen Afridi went wicketless in the match against New Zealand and conceded 60-plus runs. He will want to resurrect his offerings when taking on Rohit Sharma. Notably, Rohit likes to go hard upfront, which allows Shubman Gill to play long and strong. Rohit scored 41 runs in India’s clash against Bangladesh and would be keen to get another strong start.

Rohit averages a solid 51.39 against left-arm pacers in ODIs.

From 132 innings, he has amassed 1696 runs, having faced 1899 balls. He strikes at 89.31. Meanwhile, left-arm pacers have dismissed Rohit on 33 occasions.

Versus Shaheen, veteran Rohit averages 24 across 4 innings. He has faced 56 balls for his 48 runs, getting dismissed twice.

Meanwhile, Shaheen owns a strong record against right-handed batters. Across 61 innings, he owns 83 scalps at 23.54. He has bowled 1280 dot balls.

Abrar Ahmed vs Power Kohli

Pakistan’s right-arm leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed will relish bowling to Virat Kohli, who has struggled against leg-spin of late.

Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan will need to introduce Abrar the moment Kohli steps in and goes into attacking mode. Kohli struggled against spin in the recently concluded ODI series versus England, where Adil Rashid got him twice. In the CT opener against Bangladesh, Rishad Hossain trumped Kohli, highlighting the player’s struggles against leg-spin.

Since 2024, Kohli has averaged a sorry 4.20 against leg-spinners. Across 5 innings, he owns a total of 21 runs, being dismissed 5 times. He has faced 46 balls, out of which 28 have been dots.

During this phase in international cricket, Kohli has played 7 innings against leg-spinners, being dismissed six times. He averages 5.50 and strikes at 58.90.

Mohammed Shami vs Babar Azam

Indian pacer Mohammed Shami took a fifer in India’s match versus Bangladesh, becoming the fastest Indian to 200 ODI scalps. He took a record 6th fifer in ODIs. Shami, who was in his element with the new ball, will look to keep Babar Azam at bay. Babar struggled to get going against New Zealand and scored 64 from 90 balls in a 321-run chase. Shami can keep Babar quiet upfront to apply more pressure on Pakistan.

Shami, who has yet to face Babar in ODIs, has 141 wickets from 102 innings against right-handed batters. He averages 20.57 with the ball. On the other hand, Babar averages a solid 50.01 versus right-arm pacers. Across 118 innings, he owns 2951 ODI runs, being dismissed 59 times.

Meanwhile, in the power play overs (1-10), Babar averages 57.94, but his strike rate is 73.39. He has been dismissed 18 times from 85 innings. On the other hand, Shami owns 53 wickets in PP overs from 101 innings at 31.71.

Harshit rana vs saud shakeel

Harshit Rana has enjoyed a strong start to his international career for India. After doing well in the Test series versus Australia, he has done well in the white-ball formats, making an impression as a future star. Rana did well versus Bangladesh in India’s CT opener. He picked a three-wicket haul. With the new ball in hand, he will test Saud Shakeel.

Across 6 innings in the PP overs, Shakeel averages a poor 10.25. His strike rate is also dismal (58.57). Across six innings, he has scored 41 runs from 70 balls in the power play overs. He has been dismissed 4 times. Meanwhile, Rana averages 30 in the PP overs. Across 4 innings, he has claimed three wickets. Rana has given away 90 runs from 72 balls in PP overs.

Ravindra Jadeja vs Mohammad Rizwan

India’s left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja went wicketless in the match against Bangladesh. However, he bowled a neat nine-over spell, conceding 37 runs. Jadeja, who is known for his accuracy and tenacity, will test Mohammad Rizwan. The latter struggled versus New Zealand but scored a solid century recently against the Proteas, where he dominated spin.

In their lone meeting, Rizwan smashed 28 runs from 22 balls off Jadeja. He smashed three fours without being dismissed.

Overall versus left-arm spinners, Rizwan has an average of 64.37. In 40 innings, he has 515 runs from 611 balls. Left-arm spinners have dismissed him 8 times. Jadeja averages 32.24 with the ball vs right-handed batters. In 192 innings, he has claimed 181 scalps.