Mohali, Mar. 30 (ANI): India made one change to the team, including left-arm fast bowler Ashish Nehra in place of offspinner Ravichandra Ashwin, while Pakistan fielded an unchanged squad for Wednesday's World Cup semi-final clash at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here.
Asked why he had chosen Nehra over Ashwin, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that he wanted more options at his disposal when Pakistan comes in to bat in the evening. He also said that Pakistan's batsmen were also good players of spin, and added that having Nehra good prove useful at the death.
Before the match, both teams lined up to hear the national anthems of the two countries. They were then introduced to the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan-Dr. Manmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani-by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sharad Pawar.
By the end of today, either India or Pakistan will have earned a place in the World Cup final against Sri Lanka.
Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi said of the pitch: "It will not be easy against the spinners. The ball will definitely take some grip."
The team for Wednesday's semi-final is as follows:
India 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 7 Suresh Raina, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Ashish Nehra, 11 Munaf Patel.
Pakistan 1 Kamran Akmal (wk), 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Saeed Ajmal. (ANI)
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