India VS Pakistan ICC Champions Trophy LIVE: Is Dubai pitch a bowling paradise? 5 things to know as Babar Azam, Imam-Ul-Haq fall

India VS Pakistan ICC Champions Trophy LIVE: It was not an ideal start for Pakistan after Mohammad Rizwan opted to bat first at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. Both Babar Azam and Imam-Ul-Haq, who opened the innings for the Green Army, fell before the batting powerplay concluded and neither could even manage a strike rate of 100.

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Babar and Imam failed to exploit the fielding restrictions as they only managed to stitch an opening stand of 41 runs from 50 balls before the former fell. While the ex-Pakistan captain made 23 off 26 including five boundaries before being dismissed by Hardik Pandya, his partner fared worse, making just 10 runs from 26 deliveries. Imam, who replaced the injured Fakhar Zaman in the squad, failed to score a single boundary during his stay in the middle.

Rohit Sharma used five different bowlers to complete the first ten overs including spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. Many netizens wondered whether Pakistan started their innings poorly or if the Dubai International Stadium was a bowling paradise -- a pitch where batters struggle to get going. Some others wondered if chasing was going to be tougher in Dubai, forcing Rizwan to bat first against the neighbours. 

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As the Champions Trophy game between the archrivals progresses, here are five things to know about the pitch at the Dubai International Stadium:

1. The pitch at the Dubai International Stadium is not exactly a batters' paradise. While the ground hosted 59 matches to date only four games saw teams surpassing the 300-digut mark here. When India took on Bangladesh at the venue last week, Bangladesh had lost half their side for just 35 runs before managing to post a respectable 228 on the board. It was not an easy run-chase either as India could only hit the winning run in the 47th over.

2. Batters are advised to go hard in the powerplay overs at Dubai before the sluggish surface takes effect, making run-scoring difficult in the middle overs. Thus, many believe that Pakistan should have accelerated in the first ten overs instead of holding back.

3. In the last 10 games, Dubai witnessed teams batting second running away with the win seven times. Therefore, it was expected that the team winning the toss would elect to bowl first. Rizwan chose otherwise to the surprise of many. It is also noteworthy that out of 59 games, teams winning the toss have won at the ground only 29 times.

4. Seamers are expected to find some movement early on in the pitch. However, as the game enters the middle overs, spinners will likely play a bigger role, making most of the turn. A report cited that fast bowlers have claimed 473 wickets at an average of over 28 and an economy rate of 4.79 at the venue while spinners have only 325 wickets at an average of 30. 

5. Spin bowlers have been more economical at Dubai with an economy rate of 4.25 runs per. Dew is also expected to play a major role as the game progresses, forcing the captains to use their spinners during the first innings. Rizwan would have thought that it was safer to bat first and put runs on the board. However, at the rate Pakistan is batting, it is doubtful if his plan is being correctly executed. 

Teams:

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav.

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan(wk/captain), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.