Virat Kohli’s back-to-back sixes in Melbourne 10 months ago, which charted India’s victory route over Pakistan from a seemingly hopeless situation at the last meeting between the two teams, are still fresh in the minds of most.
That’s the kind of stuff India-Pakistan contests are made of, where passion and emotion know no limits.
The arch-rivals have faced off four times in the last two years, yet it would be a charged-up atmosphere when Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam’s men cross swords in this Asia Cup’s marquee game in Pallekele on Saturday.
The weather forecast could turn out to be a spirit dampener though for all the stakeholders as there’s a possibility of rain in Pallekele on Saturday. The conditions were brighter and sunnier on Friday, the game eve, with no rain till late in the evening. But on match day, rain cannot be ruled out altogether.
One would only hope the conditions remain dry as India and Pakistan get ready for their first ODI clash since the 2019 World Cup face-off. Both camps, however, will be chalking out their plans and strategies irrespective of the overhead conditions.
For India, the No.4 slot pricks them a fair bit and needs to be fixed. Assuming Shubman Gill will open alongside skipper Rohit, where does Ishan Kishan bat then? Kohli has always been at his sharpest at No.3 in the format that brings out his best.
The Pakistani bowlers, especially Haris Rauf who was at the receiving end of those two majestic sixes, must not have forgotten the former India captain’s game-winning knock (82 not out off 53 balls) at the MCG last October. In order to help Kohli churn out a similar kind of knock in a game that counts, the team management has to assure he’s in a good mindspace ahead of India’s opener.
With Shreyas Iyer set to return after a long gap post back injury, he’s certainly one option at No.4. That said, it remains to be seen how effective keeper-batter Kishan is if he bats in the middle order.
In other words, India need to exercise mindfulness to form their batting line-up as Pakistan’s trio — Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Rauf — could be deadly if there’s even subtle movement on offer for the quicks. How India’s top three fare against Shaheen and Naseem with the new ball will surely be one of the key aspects of the game.
Wobbly batting
Pakistan, in fact, need to worry a little about their batting. Captain Babar and Iftikhar Ahmed are in flow, but their opening duo of Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul Haq along with Mohammad Rizwan and Agha Salman struggled against minnows Nepal in the tournament opener in Multan the other day.
That’s something Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja could look to cash in on. Of course, bowling all 10 overs in a high-intensity game after a long time will be a test for Bumrah, who has bowled just eight overs so far since his comeback.
But considering Pakistan’s wobbly, inconsistent batting, the job may get easier for Bumrah and his colleagues. That’s regardless of Pakistan having played quite a few international matches in Sri Lanka lately and getting more opportunity to acclimatise better with the conditions there.
“It’s all about responding on the day and to the conditions on offer instead of thinking about past results,” stressed Babar on Friday.
