BeyondHeadlines Special Correspondent
Mohali: India has given a fiery start to the ICC World Cup 2011 semifinal match being played between India and Pakistan at PCA stadium Mohali, Punjab. Although Wahab Riaz caught Virender Sehwag at 38, Pakistanis are feeling it difficult to stop Tendulkar from hitting boundaries.
Virender Sehwag hit five fours off Umar Gul’s second over as India got off to a flying start.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat as India made one change to the side that beat Australia in the quarterfinals, bringing in pacer Ashish Nehra in place of spinner R Ashwin.
Pakistan have made no change to the team that beat the West Indies in the quarterfinals, deciding against including mercurial pacer Shoaib Akhtar despite widespread speculation before the match.
Teams:
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (c), Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal+, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal.
Umpires: Simon Taufel and Ian Gould (both on-field), Billy Bowden (third umpire), Rod Tucker (fourth umpire). Ranjan Madugalle (match referee).
