When: September 19, 2018, 3:30 PM Local time, 5:00 PM IST

Where: Dubai International Cricket Stadium

What to expect: It’s the sort of fixture that even sapping Dubai heat won’t have a bearing on. A packed house, braving the weather, is expected to grace the stadium. All the pitches used in the tournament so far have been slow, and Wednesday’s is going to be no exception.

Team News:

India

India have a big overnight decision to make. Jasprit Bumrah has to return for the Pakistan clash, but it would be cruel on Khaleel Ahmed, if it is at his expense. Shardul Thakur had an ordinary evening, and should make way.

The next big call is in the top-order. The bench has Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul waiting to get in, but with Ambati Rayudu performing well and Kedar Jadhav doubling up as the sixth bowling option, only one player can be relegated to the bench – Dinesh Karthik. KL Rahul coming in would mean he either bats at 4 or takes No.3 and Rayudu moves a spot down.

If Pandya is indeed a player they cannot do without – which is likely to be the case – then Khaleel will have to be benched.

Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, KL Rahul/Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya/Khaleel Ahmed

Pakistan

Mohammad Amir has three wickets in eight ODIs in 2018 but Sarfraz Ahmed came to his strike pacer’s defence in a press conference, even going to the extent of citing the example of Mohammed Shami, who he felt bowled well in the Tests in England but didn’t have too many wickets to show for the effort.

There’s logic in giving the left-armer a rest, considering they have enough similar fast bowlers to trouble the Indian batsmen and the fact that they’ve already made it to the Super Four stage.

Probable XI: Fakhar Zaman, Imam Ul Haq, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Khan, Mohammad Amir/Junaid Khan, Hasan Ali

Did you know:

– Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman has three hundreds and a half-century in his last five ODI outings

– If Yuzvendra Chahal picks two wickets against Pakistan, he’ll become India’s third fastest to 50 ODI wickets (in 27 matches) – behind Ajit Agarkar (23 matches) and Kuldeep Yadav (24 matches).