On Wednesday, each and every seat and cranny at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium will be filled, but only on paper; as ticket-holders, stragglers and stray dogs alike will be on their feet when India and Pakistan take the field. A berth in the World Cup Final will be the putative issue at stake, but India v Pakistan encounters tend to transcend the mundane world of cricket. Old fires will boil onto the surface with novel spark, a score or two will be settled, and a stratospheric record could be reached by one diminutive cricket giant!Mohali will offer bounce and zip off the wicket. While this may bring the ball onto the bat, there could be worrisome jag and the bowlers who can bend their back and land the ball on the breaking areas would be successful. As if Mohali needed preparation for the chaos that may ensue on Wednesday, when leather will be set ablaze, frenzy was struck when tickets were hoarded for monstrous profits. The world will converge on the ground; the Prime Minister of India himself will be present among the glitterati, politicians, and celebrities thronging the stands!
India:
The team’s last game on Tuesday at Motera gave India a famous win against past-masters of the World Cup, alright. But it also shone light on the culprits behind India’s batting failures through the tourney: MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan, the side’s middle and lower order fulcra. While Pathan was apprehended by the successful finish made possible in his absence, Dhoni contrived to slump to another ineffective shot. He has been through worse form, however, and has plenty panacea to draw from his daunting record against Pakistan, with a hundred and 8 fifties at a strike rate of 95.87. After having been sidelined by Pathan’s prospective razzle-dazzle for most of the tournament, Suresh Raina will count himself vindicated after the telling contribution he produced against Australia. Faced with an insistent Aussie attack in a knock-out game, he stayed sturdy under pressure and will have done his reputation and confidence no end of good, besides putting paid to Pathan’s re-entry.
The tournament has turned into the Yuvraj Singh show. India’s journey this far into the tournament has been peppered with contributions from the left-hander, who, of late, has seemed to develop the maturity that behoves his seniority in the side. Modesty would never have been a quality anyone would ascribe to the brash Punjab da Sher, but there was an ardent humility in the way he deflected praise to his team-mates on Thursday night, post-match. Pakistan has encountered a dangerous Yuvraj ample number of times in the past, including in the World Cup scenario, and though only Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar will recall it, they had run into a Yuvraj fifty in the 2003 edition. The others in the current Pakistan setup will be amply intimidated by his average of 48.11 and strike rate of 92.94 against them.
India’s theoretical weak-link, its metaphorical Achilles’ Heel, their bowling attack, has drawn grand praise from no less than Ricky Ponting, who placed it on equal footing with Pakistan’s. While the comparison will have made the Pakistanis smile smugly, the Indian camp will have taken it as a vitalizing shot in the arm. Ravichandran Ashwin, two games in, has not taken batting line-ups by storm, by any means, but his influence has been manifest in the two strong bowling performances by India. Both against West Indies and Australia, he provided the initial break-through and ensured that the opposition’s openers took birth in an airless crib. Harbhajan Singh, who has been vexingly innocuous all through the tournament, looked to have been benefited by Ashwin’s foil, as he bowled a match-turning spell against the West Indies in the final group match, and added some penetrative-looking loop to his first 7 overs against Australia which conceded just 21. Zaheer Khan may not find any left-handers to challenge with his slow in-cutter, but he will trouble the openers with swing before coming back with the older ball to ruffle any platform thus far set up. Munaf Patel was expensive against Australia, but will likely get to play in this crucial match at Mohali, on a wicket where his inherent bounce will find a kindred spirit.
Dhoni may have reconciled himself to the team’s limited fielding abilities, but if the likes of Ashwin, Raina and Kohli take the field after partaking of a shot of red bull, he may not have as much pain to swallow as he fears.
Pakistan:
Sending West Indies packing with sure-footed confidence, the Pakistani opening pair struck gold at the most opportune juncture of their World Cup journey. Notching up Pakistan’s first 50-plus partnership, Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez set right the one aspect of their game which had been under a bit of a cloud. Their middle order has performed in random bursts, the experienced Misbah-ul-Haq and Younus Khan the more consistent of the lot. Umar Akmal has been the constant flame surrounded by a flickering middle order, and while he had registered a 71 and a couple of forties prior to Pakistan’s group stage match against Australia, it was his fluent 44 in that deciding game. A headless spell of death bowling followed by the combined failure of the middle order disgraced Pakistan against the Kiwis. Shahid Afridi has not clicked thus far with the bat, and his super centuries appear to be a thing of the past.
Pakistan have probably risen so surely up the ladder in this tourney owing to their reliance on their bowling. In the subcontinental setting, where batting comes naturally, the teams which have come out on top have been those who have bowled with the skill needed to quell burgeoning partnerships and stifle racing run rates. Pakistan has led this pack, and boasts a diverse artillery which has a missile for every period of an innings. Hafeez will be a dangerous enticement for Sehwag in the opening overs, and a loose shot will be on the cards. Umar Gul’s professional bowling has been bettered only by the tournament’s leading wicket-taker Afridi’s brand of arcane wrist spin. Afridi has turned into a veritable strike-bowler these-a-times, and has made scoring very difficult in the middle overs, which happens to be India’s least strong suit in this tournament. Gul and Afridi should seek to bowl in stifling tandem in the PowerPlays and the tricky overs between 30 and 40, which the Indian batsmen have, throughout this competition, dealt with inefficiently.
Shoaib Akhtar’s dismantled spell against New Zealand booked him as a tremendous risk, especially to be used in a knock-out game. The once fast ‘n furious Rawalpindi Express can tend to be speedy ‘n spurious, but he thrives under the spotlight, as shows his illustrious but chequered career. India has fetched him the most wickets among all the teams he has bowled at, and though Wahab Riaz has not done badly enough to deserve a benching, Akhtar’s penchant to pull off something outrageous will tease Pakistan to get him in. With Saeed Ajmal having bowled an intelligent quota of overs against Australia, his drift and ability to squeeze extra rip may keep Abdur Rehman out.
Form Guide:
India: WWLWWTW
Mar 24, 2011 - Defeated Australia by 5 wickets
Mar 20, 2011 - Defeated West Indies by 80 runs
Mar 12, 2011 - Lost to South Africa by 3 wickets
Mar 09, 2011 - Defeated Netherlands by 5 wickets
Mar 06, 2011 - Defeated Ireland by 5 wickets
Feb 27, 2011 - Tied with England
Feb 19, 2011 - Defeated Bangladesh by 87 runs
Mar 20, 2011 - Defeated West Indies by 80 runs
Mar 12, 2011 - Lost to South Africa by 3 wickets
Mar 09, 2011 - Defeated Netherlands by 5 wickets
Mar 06, 2011 - Defeated Ireland by 5 wickets
Feb 27, 2011 - Tied with England
Feb 19, 2011 - Defeated Bangladesh by 87 runs
Pakistan: WWWLWWW
Mar 23, 2011 - Defeated West Indies by 10 wickets
Mar 19, 2011 - Defeated Australia by 4 wickets
Mar 14, 2011 - Defeated Zimbabwe by 7 wickets
Mar 08, 2011 - Lost to New Zealand by 110 runs.
Mar 03, 2011 - Defeated Canada by 46 runs
Feb 26, 2011 - Defeated Sri Lanka by 11 runs
Feb 23, 2011 - Defeated Kenya by 205 runs
Mar 19, 2011 - Defeated Australia by 4 wickets
Mar 14, 2011 - Defeated Zimbabwe by 7 wickets
Mar 08, 2011 - Lost to New Zealand by 110 runs.
Mar 03, 2011 - Defeated Canada by 46 runs
Feb 26, 2011 - Defeated Sri Lanka by 11 runs
Feb 23, 2011 - Defeated Kenya by 205 runs
Likely teams:
India: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan.
Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Younus Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz/Shoaib Akhtar.
Players to watch:
Sachin Tendulkar has had two strikes at the momentous centurion milestone now. Those who set store by the old wives’ tale that Tendulkar’s centuries spell doom for India’s chances of winning the game will find themselves at an unpleasant crossroads on Wednesday. It is hard to conceive of a die-hard Sachin fan so fanatical that he would sacrifice India at the altar just for another bead in the master’s rosary, but there if there indeed emerges a master-blaster hurricane, the force could be too great for Pakistan to avail of the curse! Here’s wishing the untiring sportsman to break a leg and set a record that none surely can break!
Umar Gul’s movement and pace variations have done in at least one top order batsman in each game, and his second spells have been seasoned with the faster reverse-swinging yorker that is the hallmark of the quintessential Pakistani pace bowler. With 14 wickets from 7 games at an economy hovering around 3 runs per over, he has been one of the best bowlers to see in this tournament. Expect Gul to nag and/or upset the less experienced Indian batsmen.
Prediction: India and Pakistan always produce clashes worthy of being told to grandchildren seated on an arthritic knee. A 40 per cent win rate says India’s starry batting line up has tended to be harried by Pakistan’s historically strong bowling department. Pakistan has never one a World Cup match against India, and while their volatility is a certain disadvantage to carry into a knock-out game, it can also devastate the opposition on their day. Pakistan has had many such days this tournament. Both teams will be alive to the grandness of this mini-Final, and India will be counting on being cheered on unequivocally by the Punjab crowd. It is a tough call to choose a winner sitting in the comfort of a news bureau, but in tight games like these the 12th man which the crowd provides should help see India through.
