Bhuvneshwar Kumar India
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is unlikely to be risked by India for their ICC Cricket World Cup match against PakistanReuters

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – is he fit enough, or isn't he? Will India play with five bowlers, or an extra batsman and does Stuart Binny stand a chance of making the playing XI?

Plenty of questions for India going into their phew-can't-wait-for-it clash against Pakistan, with the team in green looking a tad more settled, at least in terms of the playing XI, than MS Dhoni's men at the moment.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar practiced and bowled in a training session on Friday, but his workload remained quite light, with the effort and shorter run-up suggesting he will not be risked for this mother of all ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 matches.

If Bhuvneshwar Kumar does not make it in time, it should mean Mohit Sharma's inclusion, although Dhoni does have the option of playing Binny as well, while going with Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as the bowlers who can give him 10 overs each.

That would be a bit of a risk, though, and the likely player man to come in is Mohit, whose ability to bowl decent overs at the death might also work in his favour.

Apart from the Bhuvneshwar factor, though, India do not have any other injury concerns – Dhoni said the team do not have any injury worries at all – with Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma set to be the opening duo at the top.

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Virat Kohli's batting position is again likely to depend on just how good an opening stand India get, and the batsman set to be left on the bench is Ambati Rayudu, with Ajinkya Rahane and Suresh Raina giving India solidity in the middle order, along with the skipper himself.

Pakistan might have struggled with injuries aplenty before the start of this World Cup, having lost Junaid Khan and Mohammad Hafeez from their original 15, but Misbah-ul-Haq does not have too many problems going into this Pool B match against India in Adelaide.

The only question will be the make-up of the side, with wicketkeeper/batsman Sarfraz Ahmed looking like being left out once again, meaning a job behind the wicket for Umar Akmal.

Leg-spinner Yasir Shah was quite impressive in the two warm-up games for Pakistan, especially the one against England, but the youngster is likely to warm the bench for this big match.

India vs Pakistan invariably boils down to which team hold their nerves better, and India have certainly done that better than Pakistan over the last several World Cups, amplified by the unbeaten record.

But then, this is as fresh an India vs Pakistan match as there has been for a while, and the latter will fancy their chances quite a bit to break the hoodoo.

Expected lineups: India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

Pakistan: Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood, Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, Mohammad Irfan.