Asia Cup 2012: Pakistan V India - Match Preview

Fresh from a surprise defeat at the hands of the spirited tournament minnows, Bangladesh, the reigning world champions India are gearing up to locks horns against arch-rivals Pakistan in a must win Asia Cup match at the Shere Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur on Sunday, March 18, 2012.

India, the defending champions of the regional tournament, opened their Asia Cup campaign with a convincing 50-run win over extremely familiar opponents Sri Lanka, and it was all smooth sailing for the Men in Blue before a resurgent Bangladesh side gave them a rude shock.

 After Pakistan confirmed their spot in the tournament final with a six wicket win over Sri Lanka on Thursday, the league match between India and Pakistan was being anticipated as a dress rehearsal for the March 22 final. But the surprise victory of the Bengali Tigers last night, not only left the quadrangular tournament wide open, but has turned Sunday’s match between the nemesis into a virtual semi-final for Dhoni and his Men in Blue.

 Whilst batting is the strength of the defending champions, bowling will be major concern for the calm and cool MS Dhoni, who seemed to be losing his serene self in the final stages of the five-wicket defeat at the hands of hosts. After setting a mammoth target of 290 to win for the minnows, Indian bowling was exposed by the belligerent Bengali batsmen, who plundered 30 muscular boundaries in their chase, including 6 lofty sixes, as the Indian bowlers struggled to contain runs and pick-up wickets.

In the absence of spearhead pacer Zaheer Khan, who has been rested for the tournament on fitness grounds, has left a huge void in the Indian attack. The Indian bowling was especially vulnerable in the death overs, and Dhoni will need to address the death bowling woes, if they are to earn a berth in next week’s final.

Pakistan, on the other hand, come into the penultimate league match of the tournament without pressure having already booked their ticket to Thursday’s grand finale. The Men in Green will be eager to avenge their world cup semi-final defeat by knocking their arch-rivals out of the tournament.

 Indisputably, the Men in Green possess the finest bowling attack in the tournament, which includes pacers Umar Gul and Aizaz Cheema, and they are well complimented by the spin trio of Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez. Batting all-rounder Hammad Azam provides Misbah an additional bowling option.

Their batting, however, has been the problem of late. In their last match against the Islanders, the Pakistan batsmen notched up a solid performance, to the chase the score quite comfortably with six wickets to spare. Despite a top order wobble, Misbah and Umar Akmal played painstakingly for their half-century knocks to win the game for Pakistan. This will keep them in good stead ahead of the mouth-watering contest.

The Men in Blue are likely to draft in Yusuf Pathan in the do or die match, in which case Ravindra Jadeja, will be dropped from the side. Rohit Sharma disappointed once again for the team India, and it would be wise on the part of the selectors to give Manoj Tiwary a chance.