India win toss, put Pakistan into bat

BIRMINGHAM: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and sent Pakistan in to bat in the last group B match of the Champions Trophy on Saturday.

The match holds only academic interest for the tournament since India already qualified for the semi-finals and Pakistan are out of the race after losing both their previous games.

But a full house is expected at Edgbaston for a game that was sold out within hours of the tickets going on sale last November.

India retained their winning combination, while Pakistan replaced opener Imran Farhat with Asad Shafiq.

Rain has been forecast during the day and clouds began building as the toss was being conducted.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma.

Pakistan: Misbah-ul Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Asad Shafiq, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Umar Amin, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz.

Umpires: Richard Kettleborough (ENG) and Ian Gould (ENG), TV umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (SL)
Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)
(AFP)