New Delhi: The Cricket World Cup’s marquee tie has arrived as India takes on arch-rivals Pakistan at Old Trafford in Manchester Sunday, 16 June.
And like much of the previous encounters, the match comes against the backdrop of heightened tensions between the countries and an air of unbridled jingoism, fuelled this time by M.S. Dhoni’s Balidaan glove controversy, where the ICC made it clear that the wicket-keeper could not sport the regimental dagger insignia of the Indian Para Special Forces.
If that wasn’t enough, an ad war has broken out: Star Sports released a “Father’s Day” promo in India, claiming that the country had fathered Pakistan and Bangladesh. A few days later, the Pakistani Jazz TV hit back, ‘recreating’ the capture of Sqn Ldr Abhinandan to pun on the ‘cup’ returning home.
Sunday’s encounter also gains extra significance as the two sides rarely play each other, given that there is a moratorium on any bilateral series between them. They last played a bilateral series six years ago in India, when Pakistan emerged 2-1 winners in 2012-13.
India with the upper hand
India come into the game with the upper hand, having won two of their three matches and sitting firmly in the top half of the table after securing a point in the washed out game against New Zealand.
The big blow, however, has been the loss of opener Shikhar Dhawan but all the other cogs of the Indian wheel seem to be in place, with the bowling living up to its reputation as the most balanced in the tournament.
Pakistan, meanwhile, are having the most Pakistan of tournaments — they were drubbed by the West Indies in their opening encounter before rallying brilliantly to upset firm favourites England only to return to old ways, somehow contriving to lose to Australia after coming back into the match on a number of occasions.
As always, however, the form-book is hardly a pointer to what really unfolds as the Indians found out the last time that the two teams met in English conditions. Pakistan had crushed India by 180 runs in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final at the Oval, registering the largest victory margin by a team in the final of an ICC ODI tournament.
But it’s the Indians who have a slight edge when it comes to ICC ODI tournaments in England. Of the five times the two teams have met in ICC events in England, India has won thrice.
And as is well known, India has never lost a world cup match to its arch-rivals.
India has won all six matches between the two sides in the quadrennial tournament and coincidentally, the last time the two sides played a world cup match in England, it was at Old Trafford in 1999. The match, played in the backdrop of the Kargil conflict, saw India win by 47 runs in a low-scoring encounter.
And here’s one for the real cognoscenti: Pakistan’s Inzamam-Ul-Haq played in that Old Trafford match. On Sunday, his nephew Imam-Ul-Haq will open the batting for the current Pakistani side.
Winning the toss
It’s advantage India with the toss too. India has won the toss five out of six times in World Cup matches between the two teams. On each occasion, India elected to bat first and then went on to win.
The one time Pakistan won the toss, they too elected to bat but lost. This was at Centurion in South Africa in the 2003 World Cup, when India went on to reach the final against Australia, the eventual winners.
India is also the only team in the current World Cup to choose to bat first and successfully defend a score. In the 18 games so far, only three teams have chosen to bat first with India being the only one to defend a score.
India’s record against Pakistan and the trend in this tournament thus far says India should win the toss, elect to bat if it wants to win Sunday.
Fast bowling rules in India-Pak matches
Fast bowlers have claimed every two of the three wickets that have fallen in the games between the two sides in England. Pace bowlers have also claimed 48 out of the total 71 wickets in the ODIs between the two teams.
The tournament has also been dominated by the pacers, who have claimed three of the four wickets to have fallen so far. Fast bowlers have so far taken 158 of the 214 wickets to have fallen.
India, however, appears to be the exception. Leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is India’s leading wicket-taker in the tournament with six wickets while ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah is a close second with five wickets.