Pakistan cricketers Shahid Afridi (left), Umar Akmal (second left) and Umar Gul (right) stretch at a training session at The Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. (AFP)
India face arch-rivals Pakistan in the tournament proper of the ICC World Twenty20 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here today.
The two former champions meet at the same venue for the second time in a month. The last time they had a face-off here March 2 in the Asia Cup, Pakistan clinched a last-ball thriller thanks to Shahid Afridi’s unbeaten 18-ball 34.
The Indian team has had a tough past couple of months. Losses in South Africa, New Zealand and an early exit from the Asia Cup have compounded India’s miseries.
The World T20 offers the Men in Blue a chance to get back to winning ways.
India can take heart from the fact that they have never lost to Pakistan in a World Cup, be it Twenty20 or 50-over format.
But Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez has started the mind games saying that Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s return to the team doesn’t make any difference. Dhoni had skipped the Asia Cup owing to injury.
India most likely will field five bowlers with leggie Amit Mishra being the third spinner. Pacers Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar haven’t played much of T20 internationals but the experience in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will surely count.
What will boost the Indian team’s confidence is the return of Dhoni and the presence of Yuvraj Singh. The onus will be on Yuvraj, who has been dropped from both ODIs and Test side, to prove the selectors that he is still good enough to play at the highest level.
The opening pair remains a problem for India. While Shikhar Dhawan has been getting the runs, Rohit Sharma has hit a rough patch. Dhoni has been non-committal in sending Ajinkya Rahane up the order and said the team would adapt a wait and watch policy.
Pakistan will take confidence from Afridi pyrotechnics three weeks back here against India in Asia Cup. But Pakistan’s trump card will be off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, who has given most batsmen a hard time reading his variations.
Pakistan are also experienced than India in terms of T20 format. They are the most experienced Test playing nation in T20s, having played 78 matches in comparison to India’s 46.
However, India-Pakistan matches are beyond all numbers and calculations.
It will be chaos theory out there.
Bowling remains a concern for Dhoni
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni says bowling remains an area of concern ahead of their World Twenty20 opener against Pakistan here yesterday.
“The bowling department is still an area of concern if you compare it to our batting,” Dhoni told reporters on the eve of the clash between the arch-rivals.
“Getting off to a good start, that is something that is really important for us. If we have wickets in hand we have seen in the past that we can score maybe 10-15 runs more than what can be a par score. In a short format like this, 10-15 runs really matter. Apart from that, the fielding has been good. Overall if we do well in the death bowling and bat well throughout we have a very good chance.”
India lost narrowly to Sri Lanka in the first warm-up game before turning it around against England Wednesday with Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli getting amongst the runs.
Asked what he thought of the two practice games, Dhoni said: “Through the practice games we wanted to give the guys, who were not part of the Asia Cup, a fair time in the middle and I was quite happy with the way Yuvraj (Singh) and Raina performed.
“Raina has also contributed with his bowling. Whatever we wanted to achieve from the practice games we have achieved that. It looks set but still there are quite a few areas where we will have to improve when it comes to a proper game because you won’t really have the luxury of playing 15 players.”
