When speaking about great sporting rivalries, we can name a few that went into the history books. Those rivalry includes the one between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, The Ashes, Pete Sampras vs Andre Agassi, Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal and the list goes on. One of the Sports’ biggest rivalry Manchester United vs Liverpool took place a week ago and this Sunday, it’s time for yet another great sporting rivalry, El Classico between Real Madrid and Barcelona. In between this, there comes a rivalry which is considered as the mother of all battles, India vs Pakistan. The arch rivals are set to kick-start the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 in Mirpur in a day’s time. Tensions take the limelight among the fans when these two teams lock horns against each other. This battle might also be termed as a test between India’s batting might and Pakistan’s bowling powers. Recently Pakistan humbled India in an Asia Cup thriller and the wounded Indians will look for revenge at the Sher-E-Bangla stadium.
Head-to-Head in T20’s:
In the five matches played between these two sides, India has managed to win four and Pakistan just one. Out of these five matches, three were played in World T20’s with India coming out victorious in all three meetings.
Pitch Report: As the wicket in the Sher-E-Bangla stadium is assisting the spinners in the qualifying matches and the warm-up matches, the wicket is expected to remain the same throughout the tournament. Both the team has some quality spinners in their side and will look to extract the maximum help from the pitch.
Weather Report: The weather has been hot and humid during the day, and dew is likely to be a factor in the evening. So the captain winning the toss would to bowl first as it becomes difficult for the spinners to grip the ball as the match goes on.
For the past few months, Indians would have had several nightmares, criticism from all quarters after the tours of South Africa and New Zealand, where they failed to win a single match. Also in the Asia Cup, they managed to defeat the minnows Bangladesh and Afghanistan. With the 2015 ICC World Cup at sight, the team will be looking to get back into the winning ways as soon as possible. A decent show at the World T20 will help the Indians’ cause in the near future and motivate them to do well in the road too World Cup. As far as the Indian team is concerned, all eyes will be on returning Yuvraj Singh who will be determined to prove a point to the selectors after being dumped from the ODI squad. Yuvraj is said to be the King of T20’s by the Indian fans and he would like to replicate the success in the World T20 as well.
As always, bowling has been a worry for MS Dhoni and co. Inspite of having three quality spinners in the side, the bowling looks weak without the support of pacers. India’s batting looks solid and it will be good to see Virat Kohli opening the batting with Shikhar Dhawan instead of Rohit Sharma. This allows Suresh Raina to bat at his favourite number three position followed by Yuvraj and Rohit. Rohit has been a revelation since he was promoted as an opener. But in T20’s he has attained some success as a middle order batsman and also hold the record for the highest batting average in World T20’s. India’s X-factor Ravindra Jadeja has an important role to play in the tournament. A lot is expected of Jadeja with the bat as well as with the ball. He will provide the much needed assistance to Ashwin and Amit Mishra. In the pace bowling department, Shami Ahmed is the only certainty. If India decides to go in with three spinners and two pacers (which looks more likely), then there will be a toss-up between Varun Aaron and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the second Pacer’s slot. With the conditions in Bangladesh known to assist the spinners, India will be banking on their spinners to come good.
India’s Possible Playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Shami Ahmed.
On the other hand, Pakistan will look to add another World T20 title in their trophy cabinet. Pakistan are the most successful team in the World T20’s as they have reached the semi-finals of all the four editions. Unlike India, their bowling is their strength as they have the deadly T20 trio of Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul. Skipper Mohammad Hafeez has already insisted to unleash their surprise package in their left arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar. With Babar’s inclusion, Pakistan are set to play with four spinners who can bowl their quota of four overs. Afridi, Ajmal, Hafeez and Babar are the bowlers who can not only be economical with the ball but they can also pick wickets when needed. Their pace department which includes the likes of Umar Gul and Junaid Khan will look to back the good work done by their spinners. It is more likely that Gul will come on to bowl later in the innings as the skipper needs him to be there at the death overs. Pakistan’s bowling are capable of defending a low total with ease.
Their batting is not as threatening as their bowling. Ahmed Shehzad is responsible for giving the side a decent start and his opening partner Sharjeel Khan will look to play some big shots in the beginning. Their middle order is very inconsistent and that could be a worry for the men in green in the World T20. Hafeez loves to play a long innings followed by the Akmal brothers who love to go after the bowling from the word go. Their X-Factor will be Shahid Afridi, who can win matches for his team out of nowhere and he has shown it in in the recently concluded World T20. Pakistan will look to play sensibly in the middle overs and set the stage for their bowlers to call the shots.
Pakistan’s Possible Playing XI: Ahmed Shehzad, Sharjeel Khan, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar.
Prediction: With India winning all their matches against Pakistan in the World Cups, I’ll certainly put my money on the Men in Blue to come out victorious.
