India will be looking to clinch a spot in the semi-final of the inaugural Dubai Kabaddi Masters 2018 when they take on arch-rivals Pakistan in Group A tie at the Al Wasl Sports Club in Dubai on Monday, June 25.
When does the kabaddi match start and how to watch it live
The much-anticipated kabaddi match between India and Pakistan will start at 6:30 pm local time, 8 pm IST.
Star Sports 2, Star Sports Hindi and Star Sports Tamil will provide live television coverage of the match in India.
The live stream will be available on Hotstar and Jio TV.
India vs Pakistan at Kabbadi Masters: What to expect
Reigning world champions India will be hoping to make it two in two against arch-rivals Pakistan in Monday's crunch Group A tie.
Ajay Thakur's men opened their campaign on a high in Dubai with a comfortable 36-20 win over their Pakistani counterparts on Friday. In the absence of raiders Sajjad Shaukat and Muzammal Hussain, who arrived late due to visa issues, Nabeel Ahmed Rana's men struggled to cope up with the firepower in their opposition camp.
India followed it up with a 48-19 thrashing of Kenya on Saturday. By virtue of two wins from their two matches, the Asian giants are currently on the top spot of the Group A table with four points, two clear of nearest-rivals, Pakistan.
Another win will take India through to the semi-final of the six-team tournament and Srinivas Reddy's men are well-placed to do so after enjoying a day's rest in the UAE.
Coach Reddy had rotated his squad for the Kenya tie and still managed a convincing result. Rahul Chaudhari and Pardeep Narwal, rested for Saturday's tie, are expected to return the starting line-up despite the latter's ordinary showing against Pakistan.
Nonetheless, the newly-appointed coach has a lot of options to choose from, given the impressive performance of the bench against Kenya.
Can Pakistan continue good form?
Pakistan will be hoping for revenge when they step on the mat on Monday. After having made light work of Kenya (43-21) as recently as yesterday, the Men in Green will be keen on improving their showing against arch-rivals.
With both Shaukat and Hussain available for selection, India is not willing to take Pakistan lightly.
"We expect a tougher challenge from Pakistan, so we have to be on our toes. We know they would like to win this game after losing the first game against us. We are not taking anything for granted. We need a win to qualify for the semi-finals and our aim is to finish the job on Monday," India captain Thakur was quoted as saying by Firstpost.
Kabaddi Masters full squads
India: Ajay Thakur (c), Manjeet Chhillar, Girish Maruti, Ernak, Surjeet, Raju Lal Choudhary, Surender Nada, Mohit Chhillar, Deepak Niwas Hooda, Sandeep Narwal, Pardeep Narwal, Rohit Kumar, Rishank Devadiga, Rahul Chaudhari, Monu Goyat.
Pakistan: Nasir Ali (c), Waqar Ali, Mudassar Ali, Qaisir Abbas, Kashif Razzaq, Muhammad Nadeem, Sajjad Shaukat, Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Safian, Abid Hussain, Akhlaq Hussain, Wasim Sajjad, Muhammad Nisar, Muzammal Hussain.
