India vs Pakistan. This is an rivalry which in any sport is a hotly contested one. Two countries which were once united , got partitioned in a cruel ,bloody manner in 1947 , thus giving birth to this sporting rivalry where the winner is always smiling at the end while the loser wonders about what could have been. The Wars fought between these two countries have made this rivalry even more intense and winning in this rivalry means an off field victory as well as one on the field.
India and Pakistan first faced each other in an ICC tournament in 1992 where an 19 year old by the name of Sachin Tendulkar scored 54* off 62 balls and then gave away just 37 runs in 10 overs while taking a wicket and in turn winning the MOTM award. Since then the H2H stands at 14-4 in India's favour while in the Asia Cup it is more closely contested with the H2H at 9-7 in India's favour.
Pakistan have looked the better of the two sides in this tournament so far. In the group stage game between these two, Pakistan seemed to have India on the ropes at 66-4 , but then a late rearguard action by Ishan Kishan who scored 82(81) and Hardik Pandya 87(90) ensured India got to a respectable 266/10 in 48.5 overs. Would this total have been defended by Indian bowlers?, we will never know but going off India's fielding performance against Nepal, Pakistan stood a greater chance of winning.
Pakistan absolutely drubbed Nepal by 238 runs in the first match of the tournament with captain Babar Azam leading from the front scoring a 151 off 131 deliveries along Iftikhar Ahmed who also got a century and Pakistan set a gigantic total of 342 which Nepal never really stood a chance of usurping and got bowled for a paltry 104.
If India really want to make a statement before going to the 2023 World Cup, beating Pakistan tomorrow and winning it would go a long way in achieving that. The Top 3 of Rohit Gill and Kohli need to fire and not let an unsettled middle order come under pressure for the second game running. However it would be India's fielding against Nepal that would be most concerning to the Men in Blue, plenty of dropped catches and misfields and this Pakistan team will definitely punish them. India have a lot of scope to improve.
Pakistan will look to do the same things they did in the first game against India, but ensure that they do not let India off the hook like they did in the first game because when they are cornered, this Indian team does find a way to punch it's way out.
All in all it seems we could have a very exciting match in prospect if the weather holds up.
Match Details
Where: R Premadasa Stadium,Colombo
When: 3:00 pm IST
Weather Conditions: The forecast is diabolical with thunderstorms forecast right through Sunday. It's very likely that the reserve day is kicked into play but as irony would have it, the forecast for Monday reads even worse at the moment.
Yash, you rightly catched India Pakistan match emotions as Indians can not digest defeat against Pakistan any more. Nice one