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India and Pakistan Evenly Matched Despite the Gulf in Rankings

Pakistan have played against India six times in the World Cup but is yet to win a match against them.

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World Cup
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Frivolous TV ads, over the top TV news bulletins…you guessed it right, it is that time of the year when India takes on Pakistan in an one-off encounter.

Thanks to the heightened political and diplomatic standoff the two sides have pitched expectations when they play each other in such ICC tournaments.

Almost Forgotten

To think that just in March this year the TV news networks in India almost did not let this encounter happen, it is quite hypocritical to see those very guys hyping up the contest.

There was apparently enough outrage in the country for the match not to be staged. But things have cooled down since then with both countries coming close to restarting all kinds of engagement.

This encounter at Manchester could well be the kick-starter of something new in the Indo-Pak relations. This very venue, in fact, hosted a match in the 1999 World Cup between these two rivals at the peak of the Kargil War.
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Change is in the Air

A lot has however changed since that 1999 encounter in Indo-Pak cricket.

For one India has established some sort of superior record against Pakistan since that 1999 World Cup. Pakistan on the other hand has lost the aura that they had around it in the 1990s with their champion players.

For one, Pakistan’s bowling attack was superior right through the late 1980s and the 1990s. They always made Indians envious with their battery of pace bowlers who bowled yorkers at break neck speed. Indians, on the other hand, were famous for their more elegant batsmen.

Almost always, therefore, in those heady days an Indo-Pak contest was considered to be a battle between India’s batting and Pakistan’s bowling.

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Bowlers at Par?

Pakistan have played against India six times in the World Cup but is yet to win a match against them.
From left: Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav.
(Photo: AP)

But all that has changed in the recent past. Especially in the last decade the contest has evened out with India slowly building a bowling attack, not worthy of awe but worthy certainly of respect.

However, that respect has slowly turned into awe in the last couple of years for India’s bowling, because for one the attack is far better-rounded than anytime in the past.

For the first time therefore an Indo-Pak clash is a battle between the two bowling attacks, with India having a slight edge because of its variety.

India always had bowling attacks which were limited in nature with one or in some cases just two wicket-taking options. That has been a big improvement in Indian cricket, something that has happened over a period of time.

India’s bowling attack now has bowlers who are different and strike bowlers.

The two most unique bowlers in the Indian squad are Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav. Both offer something different with their action, in the case of Bumrah, and with the variety as far as Kuldeep is concerned.

This itself gives India the edge in the contest.

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Pakistan have played against India six times in the World Cup but is yet to win a match against them.
From left: Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi and Wahab Riaz.
(Photo: AP)

Pakistan on the other hand, have an overall edge in the pace bowling department. An out-of-form Mohammed Amir and an out of favour Wahab Riaz have come back into the reckoning because of their experience. They remind of players in the past who would turn up from nowhere for Pakistan, snatch a win against India and then disappear. It could well be the case for Amir and Riaz on Sunday.

There is, however, one bowler which Indians may have not paid much heed to and that is the young tearaway Mohammed Hasnain. He is raw, and has pace which can rattle line-ups.

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Batting Evens Out

Pakistan have played against India six times in the World Cup but is yet to win a match against them.
Shikhar Dhawan has been ruled from the match against against Pakistan with a thumb injury.
(Photo: AP)

Surprisingly the one department where India would have scored hands down in the past, batting could well be the weaker link tomorrow. With the injury to Shikhar Dhawan, the batting line-up faces realignment once again. The number four slot opens up again and puts pressure on the fragile middle-order yet again.

Pakistan have played against India six times in the World Cup but is yet to win a match against them.
File picture of Babar Azam.
(Photo: AP)

The Pakistanis too have some issues in the middle-order. Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman have formed a top pairing at the top of the order, followed by Mr Consistent Babar Azam. Then starts the problem with Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim and Harris Sohail not contributing in full measure. Experienced Mohammed Hafeez provides value with his all-round skills. But there is no accelerator towards the end. That was certainly the issue for Pakistan against Australia in what should have been a manageable chase

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Catch ‘em Well

Pakistan have played against India six times in the World Cup but is yet to win a match against them.
David Warner got three lives from butter fingered Pakistanis in their previous match.
(Photo: AP)

But if there is one big difference between the two sides, it is the fielding. India has some more safe fielders who take catches, unlike Pakistan. David Warner got three lives from butter fingered Pakistanis and that was the end of the contest. If Pakistan don’t hold onto their catches against India, it will be game, set and match.

Bowlers are at equal measure, batting can match each other as well despite the presence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Fielding therefore could well prove to be the deciding factor.

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Avoid Nastiness

With so many variables at play, the host broadcaster and its rivals across the border could well have avoided the nasty advertisements. No one becomes the other’s father just by winning a cricket match.

The solution to end this nastiness is to play regular cricket because then the bitterness just goes out of the window.

In the 1950s, the Indo-Pak contests were usually dull dreary draws. Then from 1978-1989 when India played Pakistan almost every year, the contests lost its bitterness, but continued to be razor sharp. Then again through the 1990s, it become war by other means till they resumed annual bilateral exchanges from 2004-2007. Having observed the last phase, it can be safely announced that the contests still had the edge, despite the lack of rhetoric.

How often do you see Pakistanis helping Indians carry their tri-colour on the streets of Lahore? As a personal witness to that level of bonhomie, the present level of frivolous banter is purely repulsive and avoidable.

Let’s hope better sense prevails.

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(Chandresh Narayanan is former cricket writer with The Times of India, The Indian Express, ex-Media Officer for ICC and the Delhi Daredevils. He is also the author of World Cup Heroes, Cricket Editorial consultant, professor and cricket TV commentator.)

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