Mohali ODI: India elect to bat first

NEW DELHI, November 8: India skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first against Pakistan in the second ODI at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on Thursday.
Veteran Virender Sehwag, who was left out of the series opener Guwahati ODI, has been included in the final XI in place of off-spinner Murali Kartik.
Pakistan have also made one change, they called Sohail Tanvir in place of Abdur Rehman.
The five-wicket triumph in the first One-dayer in Guwahati would no doubt serve as a huge morale booster for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men but they can hardly afford to be complacent against the unpredictable Pakistanis in what promises to be a thrilling floodlit contest at the PCA stadium.
The visitors, who have a fine blend of youth and experienced players in their ranks, are fully capable of turning the table on their hosts but they need to get their acts together quickly.
If the Indians manage to win and take a 2-0 lead in the five match series, the Pakistanis will find themselves under tremendous pressure in the remaining matches.
Dhoni has reasons to feel happy with the way the series has started for his team and has acknowledged that the recent games against world champions Australia has helped his players to be mentally stronger.
Captain Dhoni has himself acknowledged the key role his spinners have played of late.
Teams
India: Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir and RP Singh.
Pakistan: Kamran Akmal (wk), Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik (capt), Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul.