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Pakistan v India, Group B, Asia Cup, Karachi

Two points and momentum on the line

The Preview by S Rajesh

June 25, 2008

Match facts

Thursday June 26, 2008
Start time 16.00 (local) 10.00 (GMT)

Salman Butt didn't score a run against Hong Kong, but his record against India is formidable © Getty Images

Big Picture

Both Pakistan and India recorded comprehensive victories against Hong Kong - as they were expected to - and despite an assured rematch later on in the tournament a lot rests on Thursday's match. The winning team carries forward two points from this match into the semi-final league.

Moreover, an India-Pakistan match always comes with its own pressures and expectations, and both teams would want to carry forward valuable momentum to go with the two points.

The two teams have played more often recently, and India have had the better of the exchanges, winning nine out of 14 since 2006. However, Pakistan turned the tables on them in the Kitply Cup a couple of weeks back, losing the league game but winning the final.

On paper India are the stronger team, with their batting, especially, looking in much better shape than Pakistan's. The home team's top order struggled against Hong Kong's limited bowling resources, and Shoaib Malik will want a much better performance on Thursday. Both teams, though, will gladly trade a defeat here for a win in the round-robin clash.

Form guide

(Last 5 completed ODIs; most recent first)
Pakistan WWLWW
India LWWWW

Watch out for ...

Salman Butt: He was dismissed for a third-ball duck on Tuesday against Hong Kong, but India are his favourite opposition: Butt averages 52.93 against them, and five of his seven ODI hundreds have come against the Indians.

Yuvraj Singh was rested on Wednesday, but expect him to be among the runs against an opponent he loves to play: he averages 48.58 against Pakistan, and has scored half-centuries in each of his last five innings against them.

Team news

India rested Yuvraj and Ishant Sharma against Hong Kong, but expect both to get a game against Pakistan. Rohit Sharma, who scored a listless 29-ball 11, could well be benched. Irfan Pathan's side strain kept him out of the first game, and if he clears a fitness test, Yusuf Pathan might sit out.

India (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Robin Uthappa, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 RP Singh, 11 Ishant Sharma.

Pakistan are most likely to field the same team which beat Hong Kong, but with not too much at stake in the game, this might be the perfect opportunity to tinker with the batting order and push Shahid Afridi up the order to open the batting. He has struggled lower down the order, and a move up might just do the trick.

Pakistan (probable) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Shahid Afridi, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Fawad Alam, 8 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 9 Sohail Tanvir, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Iftikhar Anjum.

Stats and trivia

The last time Pakistan lost to India in an Asia Cup game was way back in October 1988. Since then, they have won three times while one game was washed out.

India also have a good winning streak going against Pakistan at the National Stadium in Karachi, winning their last three matches against them here. The last time they lost to Pakistan at this ground was in January 1983.

Shoaib Malik's only Asia Cup game against India was a memorable one: he scored 143 - his highest ODI score - and took 2 for 42 as Pakistan won by 42 runs in Colombo in 2004.

Quotes

"A little difference is made from playing so often but in both our countries, crowds want a win all the time. There is a little more pressure on us being at home, but we are confident going into the India game."
Shoaib Malik says his team is ready for another tussle with their old rivals

"The beauty is that when we used to play less, people used to complain. Now we play more, people complain. But it's not up to us; it's the boards' job to make schedules, it's the cricketer's job to play."
Mahendra Singh Dhoni on the frequent India-Pakistan matches. If both teams make the final, they'll be playing each other three times in this tournament alone

S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo