The most awaited cricket series is about to kick off at Guwahati. The old rivals clash again bringing alive the hopes & expectations of millions of cricket lovers around the world. This article provides you with a pre-analysis of the Indo-Pak series. So lets see what could lie ahead of us in the next weeks to come.
India is on a high after winning the inaugural Twenty-20 world cup. What made this world cup triumph more special was that the final victory came against arch rivals Pakistan. This recent past will definitely have a high impact on this series: Pakistan would look to redeem their lost cause & India would like to project that the world cup victory was no fluke.
All said & done regarding T20, the format of the games to be played is critical. Firstly, India take on Pakistan in 5 one day internationals followed by three tests
. The recently concluded series for both teams ended on a sad note. Pakistan lost to South Africa on their home ground where as India took a beating against One day champs Aussies.
So this series would ideally begin with no teams expected as favorites. Of course India would have the edge since they have the crowd support in their favour.
The return of Shoaib Akhtar after serving a 13 match ban is a huge advantage to Pakistan. The Indians are susceptible to pace attack & Shoaib has pace in plenty. Shoaib has played a game against SA before arriving to India & he had four scalps in that game. He could be the man who can make a major difference in the result of this series. I personally feel Shoaib is a test match winner. In the shorter version of the game, he could really go for runs. However it needs to be seen how Shoaib Malik (Captain) & Geoff Lawson (Coach) handle the generally flaming Rawalpindi express.
India has its own version of Shoaib Akhtar… His name is Sreesanth. The pace & bounce may not quite match but as far as sledging & tumultuous behavior is concerned, these two guys will be top contenders for this post.
I don’t see much of difference in the compositions of the two teams in the first 2 one dayers. As always has been the case with these two teams, Pakistan look formidable with their bowling line up whereas India always look good with their batting. The critical factor is how everyone performs on a match day.
Two players who will be surely missed will be Inzamam & Rahul Dravid. Both these big wigs wont be playing (Dravid of course may be selected after the first 2 games). Shoaib Akhtar has already mentioned his delight in not seeing Dravid on the ground during the start of the series… This comment definitely could have fallen on the ears of Indian selectors whose decision of dropping Dravid has created disappointment among ex-cricketers & cricket followers alike.
Pakistan & India this time look equally balanced. While Pakistan has lesser experienced players than India in the batting line up, I’m sure they will make it up with their bowling. The pace attack of Akhtar, Umar Gul, Ifthikar Anjum, Sohail Tanvir could spell doom on Indian batting. The reverse could also be true: If Indian batsmen Tendulkar, Sehwag, Ganguly, Yuvraj & Dhoni hit form, the Pakistan bowlers could be hiding for cover.
India has a decent bowling attack (Zaheer, Pathan, Sreesanth, Harbhajan, RP Singh) & Pakistan batting line up also looks solid with players like Younis Khan, Md Yosuf, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Misbah & company. But for me, this series would be a battle between Indian Batsmen & Pakistani Bowlers. If either of these departments fire consistently, the outcome will be pretty evident.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed & expect a rocking series. With Diwali round the corner, expect some fireworks on the field in terms of runs & the aggression.
Hope you like this pre-analysis of the Indo-Pak series. Do post your comments regarding this article.
