The Hindu : Sport : India takes on Pakistan

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Thursday, Jun 26, 2008
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India takes on Pakistan

Principal Correspondent

KARACHI: The irony cannot be missed. Shoaib Malik’s men recently won the Kitply Cup at Dhaka defeating archrival India. And yet, the Pakistan skipper looks as though he is shouldering a burden. It doesn’t help that his moves — ranging from under-bowling himself to opening the batting against Hong Kong — have been excessively scrutinised by the local media.

Contrast this with the tag of favourites bestowed upon M.S. Dhoni’s men. Dhoni was even asked in a media conference about how he rated Shoaib Malik’s captaincy — and the Indian skipper handled the query with tact. His calmness has been praised, his deadpan comments have been lapped up.

It is against this beguiling backdrop of a harried home captain and a lionised visiting captain that the STAR Cricket Asia Cup’s showpiece Group ‘B’ match between India and Pakistan will unfurl itself at the National Stadium here on Thursday. And the organisers know that the stands will be filled to the brim after two days of the galleries yawning with wide-open spaces.

The morning after the 25th anniversary of ‘Kapil’s Devils’ epochal triumph, a young Indian team will resume its intended journey towards greater glory. Last year’s ICC Twenty20 World Cup winner started 2008 on a positive note, ambushing host Australia in the CB Series finals before scattering across India for the DLF IPL and then stumbled in the Kitply Cup final.

Middle-order under scrutiny

The middle order needs to stay consistent rather than being exposed on occasions when the Sehwag-Gambhir combine fails to fire upfront. Dhoni has hinted at coming up the order to lend some spark in the middle-overs. The bowling will miss Irfan Pathan but it sets the stage for another speedster Ishant Sharma to take over. Piyush Chawla surely is a better spinner than the 85-run spanking he suffered in the final at Dhaka would suggest.

Pakistan, meanwhile, banks on the quartet of Mohd. Yousuf, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq to build huge totals, with Salman Butt laying the foundation. The bowling is a touch low on sting due to Mohammed Asif’s absence, but Umar Gul can hurry the batsmen and Sohail Tanvir with his quirky angles can strangle them.

And then, there is the home advantage, which Pakistan seems to never have capitalised upon in its five previous games here against India, losing three games and winning one; and one was a ‘no-result’.

The teams (from):

India: M.S. Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, R.P. Singh, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Manpreet Gony, Piyush Chawla and Pragyan Ojha.

Pakistan: Shoaib Malik (captain), Misbah-ul-Haq, Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Mohammed Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Fawad Alam, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal and Mansoor Amjad.

Umpires: Tony Hill and Brian Jerling; Third umpire: A.F.M. Akhtaruddin; Match referee: Alan Hurst.

Match starts at 3.30 p.m., IST.

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