Mirpur: India will take on arch-rival Pakistan in what is a very crucial game for the Indians after their embarrassing loss against Bangladesh in the ongoing Asia Cup. India had a golden opportunity to book a final place with the Pakistanis but their bowler messed it up as they were not able to defend a score of 289 runs.
India losing to Bangladesh has thrown the final spot wide open as all the teams now have the chance to qualify. Pakistan is sitting pretty with nine points and will feature in the finals until something bizarre happen. India on the other hand is tied with the hosts with four points and Sri Lanka is still waiting to open their account. If India wins today without a bonus point than they will be at eight points and there remains a chance for the hosts to beat Sri Lanka with a bonus point to qualify for the finals.
India winning with bonus point will make Bangladeshis task a lot harder because India is well in front of them in terms of the run-rate. If however, India loses today’s match than both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will get a chance to make it to the finals. Bangladesh will need only a win and Sri Lanka will need a win with a bonus point to grab the spot.
When India will take on Pakistan it will be a battle between the Indian batsmen and Pakistani bowlers that will decide the future of the match. Pakistan has some very good spinners in their kitty, in the form of Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi, with Mohammed Hafeez chipping in with his off-spinners. Both their fast bowlers Umar Gul and Cheema are also looking in good form. India on the other hand is having a great tournament batting wise as every batsman in their top order has got runs against their name.
Indian bowling is where the problem begins. It is a one dimensional attack with all the bowlers bowling in-between 130kph and their spinners looking ordinary against some attacking batsman ship. India will have to bowl much better to pull up the result in their favor.
India and Pakistan last played in the world cup semis where the hosts defeated the visitors and Pakistan will be looking to settle the score.
By Indian Sports News Network
