Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Average score at venue: 144
Win percentage while batting first: 54.17%
Pitch conditions:
- India will be back at the venue where they lost the first two matches of this World Cup and will be under pressure to notch up a big victory against Scotland, to keep their hopes alive of making it to the semifinals round.
- Big scores have been scarce at Dubai where the pitch tends to change after the first innings. Plenty of matches have been won by teams that have batted second at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in this World Cup, which also includes Pakistan’s famous and historic feat over India.
- Fast bowlers have taken 62.29% of the wickets, compared to 37.71% for the spin bowlers.
Weather prediction:
It is going to be a bright and sunny day on Friday in Dubai with temperatures at a high of 30°C in the afternoon and dropping down to 29°C after sunset. The humidity levels will range around 60% during the match hours on Friday evening.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD:
Matches played: 1
India won: -
Scotland won: -
No result: - 1 (match abandoned)
In World Cup history:
India won: -
Scotland won: -
No result: - 1 (match abandoned)
Tied: -
Top 3 players from India: KL Rahul, R Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
Top 3 players from Scotland: Matthew Cross, Richard Berrington, Joshua Davey
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from India: KL Rahul, R Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, V Kohlii, Ravindra Jadeja
Top 5 players from Scotland: Matthew Cross, Richard Berrington, Joshua Davey, Safyaan Sharif, Michael Leask
Q&A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
The pitch at Dubai international Stadium has supported teams that have batting second in this World Cup. It also requires some heavy amount of work in order for teams to reach big totals and that is something on the target of the Indian cricket team, since they are required to win this contest by a heavy margin. While India will be confident after a thumping victory over Afghanistan in their previous match two nights ago, it remains to be seen what fate has in store for them since their captain, V Kohlii, has not had too much luck as far as coin toss is concerned. Adding more to the batting strength while selecting those bowlers who do not tend to give away a lot of runs will be the key for constituting the fantasy playing cricket XI for this contest.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
Scotland did extremely well in the earlier part of the tournament to get through the qualification round and make it to the Super 12 stage. However, the second round has been incredibly difficult for the Scottish side since they have lost all three matches played so far and are going to face an in-form Indian cricket team, which is required to record a heavy win. India did make a poor start to the tournament losing against Pakistan and New Zealand, but it was against Afghanistan that they produced a performance which they can do on a consistent basis. India are certainly the stronger side given their fire power and experience against Scotland.
MORE INFORMATION: The requirement as well as situation has not changed for India. They need to win all their matches by heavy margins which means that they will have to put out their best performance so far in the tournament at this venue in Dubai, which has not been favourable to them. The pitch at Dubai has been two-faced, when it supports the bowling side in the first innings of the contests, in the second, the chasing sides have made merry. India will face a stern challenge from the Scottish side which also 0has plenty of firepower in their ranks and promised to put out a fighting performance on Friday night.
Players’ form: India will be thrilled to have their gun batsman R Sharma back in form after a splendid knock of 74 against Afghanistan in the previous match. KL Rahul also bounced back from a couple of disappointing outings to score a fluent 69, but among the most exciting aspects of India's victory against Afghanistan were the performances by Hardik Pandya and Ravichandran Ashwin. Pandya was in his usual element against Afghanistan, hitting big strokes comfortably and middling the ball pretty well, Rishabh Pant too was among runs much to the relief of the Indian camp. The exclusion of Ashwin for a very long time from the Indian team across formats was certainly surprising given that the ace spinner has been in the form of his life and can only help the team’s cause with it. Ashwin controlled the ball extremely well while getting a few wickets against Afghanistan, which will add more to India’s bowling strength. In the case of Scotland, the likes of Matthew Cross, Joshua Davey, Richard Berrington and a few others will be key against India.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
LIKELY XIs:
INDIA (IND): KL Rahul, R Sharma, V Kohlii (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, R Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
SCOTLAND (SCO): George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer (c), Calum MacLeod, Richie Berrington, Michael Leask, Matthew Cross (wk), Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Safyaan Sharif, Alasdair Evans, Brad Wheal.
Fantasy XI: R Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), V Kohlii, George Munsey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Chris Greaves, Michael Leask, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mark Watt.
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India in search of another big win against lowly Scotland
India will look to replicate their performance from the previous match when they take field at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday night to face Scotland in their next Group 2 match of the ongoing World Cup. India need to record big wins in their remaining matches to keep pushing up their Net Run Rate (NRR), which would be vital in case there is a three-pronged competition for a place in the semifinals stage.
They are currently placed fourth in the points table for the Group 2 of the ongoing World Cup, after two defeats and one victory giving them a NRR of 0.073 and a total of 2 points. While Pakistan have qualified for the semifinals, teams such as Afghanistan, New Zealand and India are in a competition for the second spot for the final four of this World Cup. However, India will need the other results to go their way as well, which also includes the condition of Afghanistan beating New Zealand when they meet on Sunday.
The defeats to Pakistan and New Zealand earlier in the tournament did hurt India badly since the margin was so high, and it implies that India will have to win by big margins against Scotland and Namibia in their last two matches, after thrashing Afghanistan by 66 runs in their previous contest.
After ordinary outings with the bat, the Indian batting fired on all cylinders to notch up the highest total of this World Cup in 210/2 batting first against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi. India emerged victorious by 66 runs, and V Kohlii's team will be looking to replicate the same performance against a struggling Scottish side.
There is absolutely no dearth of talent and promise in the Scotland ranks, they have failed to record a single victory so far in the Super 12 stage after impressing in the qualification round. The likes of Matthew Cross, Richard Bennington, Michael Leask and Joshua Davey have been at the forefront of their attacks but Scotland have not been able to put out strong performances to record a victory.
India will be pleased with how all the departments functioned together a couple of nights ago in Abu Dhabi to help them record their first victory in the tournament. The opening pair of KL Rahul and R Sharma added 140 runs to set up a strong platform, but was strengthened further by the likes of Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant, who both played brisk knocks. With the ball, the fast bowling opening pair of Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah both struck once each to derail the Afghan innings, and Ravichandran Ashwin showed tremendous control and discipline in his spell to prove a point of him not being selected so far in the format for the last few years.
The pitch at Dubai has remained a challenge for teams since those batting second have been able to record victory more consistently in this tournament. India would certainly want some luck on their side on Friday evening with V Kohlii closing plenty of coin tosses — all three so far in the World Cup — which has had an adverse effect on the team's fortunes to some extent.
This will be the first meeting between India and Scotland after their washed out match in the inaugural edition of the World Cup all the way back in South Africa, in 2007.
