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BANGALORE, India, Friday - India's chances of clinching the Pepsi Trophy suffered a major setback today when skipper Mohamed Azharuddin withdrew from the final of the tri-nation tournament on Sunday with a shoulder injury.

Ajey Jadeja will continue to lead India in Azharuddin absence in Sunday's day-night final and his place will be taken by all-rounder Harikesh Kanitkar who hails from Pune in Western India.

With star batsman Sachin Tendulkar being still on the injured list, India face the herculean task of overcoming Pakistan in the final to be worked off at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in the Southern Indian state of Bangalore on Sunday. However India have been strengthened by the return of Nayan Mongia, Harikesh Kanitkar, Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble in their bit to beat the mighty Pakistanis in the final.

The Pakistanis under the inspiring leadership of Wasim Akram scored resounding wins over India by 143 runs and seven wickets respectively in the league tournament and the Indians have the daunting task of overcoming the high riding Pakistanis tomorrow.

It was at the same venue that Wasim Akram was vilified by his countrymen three years ago for opting out of the World Cup quarter-finals against India three years ago which India won and the Pakistan skipper is determined to erase memories of that incident by leading his side to a splendid win to make it three wins in a row over India in this tournament.

A capacity crowd of 70,000 people are expected to witness this final.

The teams (in batting order):

Pakistan - Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam ul Haq, Yousuf Yohanna, Moin Khan, Azhar Mahmud, Wasim Akram (captain), Saqlain Mushtaq, Arshad Khan, Shoaib Akhtar.

India - Saurav Ganguly, Nayan Mongia, Rahul Dravid, Ajay Jadeja (captain), Hariskesh Kanitkar, Amay Khurasia, Robin Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble, Venkatesh Prasad.