Set your alarms, for the most-awaited fixture of World Cup 2019 is only two days away. Team India is set to take on arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday, June 16, at the Old Trafford cricket ground in Manchester.
Team India is one of two remaining unbeaten sides in the competition, while Pakistan have been true to their reputation – unpredictable.
India has outclassed South Africa and Australia so far in the tournament and shared the spoils with New Zealand after a washout, while Pakistan have been hot and cold.
Pakistan were rolled over by the West Indies in their opening match, bounced back to upset favourites England in their second outing, shared points with Sri Lanka in their third fixture (washout), and most-recently, failed to cling on to a match (against Australia) they had in their clutches.
And now, it is time for the marquee clash of every ICC event, the one match that gets the cash registers ringing: India vs Pakistan.
Team India has a 6-0 win-loss record against Pakistan in World Cup matches. But that is history. The Indian team, led by Virat Kohli, will know they won’t have it all too easy when they take on Pakistan this coming weekend.
For a couple of years now, India has established a formula on which it operates.
The top three batsmen have been the engine room of the team – one of the top three bats deep and gives the rest of the batting line-up the freedom to play an attacking brand of cricket.
On Sunday though, India will be without the services of the prolific Shikhar Dhawan (injured), and then numbers indicate that Rohit Sharma and Kohli haven’t always piled on the big scores against Pakistan.
Though Sharma’s record against Pakistan isn’t too far a deviation from his career record, Indian cricket fans will be aware of his initial struggles against left-arm pacers and be a little worried knowing Pakistan will field at least two left-arm pacers in its starting XI.
Kohli’s record against Pakistan, though, makes for an interesting read. Looking at just the surface, an average of 45.90 against Pakistan points towards a drastic drop in performance compared to his overall career average of 59.47.
However, dig a little deeper and even Pakistan’s supporters would start getting worried. Kohli against Pakistan has been a case of big or nothing – there have been few middling scores.
Indian fans will fondly remember Kohli’s hundred against Pakistan in the previous World Cup – he scored a patient 107 in Adelaide to set up India’s win. Expect captain Kohli to rise to the challenge once again.
Indian cricket fans should also prepare to celebrate an imminent record. Kohli needs 57 runs to complete 11,000 runs in ODIs.
If he manages to get a big score against Pakistan, he will smash Sachin Tendulkar’s record to become the fastest to the milestone. Tendulkar had reached the 11,000-runs mark in 276 innings, and if Kohli gets there during Sunday’s knock, he would have done so in 222 innings.
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