ICC World Cup 2015: India opt to bat against Pakistan

MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first

Adelaide, Feb 15 (IANS) India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat against Pakistan in their World Cup opener at the Adelaide Oval here on Sunday.

India have gone in with the strategy of playing two spinners and three frontline fast pacers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar misses the game after failing to recover fully from an injury. Ambati Rayudu, Stuart Binny and Axar Patel are the other players in the Indian squad who haven't made it to the starting line-up.

On the other hand, Pakistan have decided to open the batting with Younis Khan and have left out regular opener Nasir Jamshed.

In all their previous World Cup meetings, defending champions India have never lost to Pakistan.

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami

Pakistan: Ahmed Shehzad, Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Misbah-ul-Haq (Captain), Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Sohail Khan, Mohammad Irfan.