India should play Kumble and drop out of form Mongia

This is a match both teams — not to mention the people of the two countries — have been awaiting for almost three years. I rememb...

This is a match both teams — not to mention the people of the two countries — have been awaiting for almost three years. I remember distinctly when I was young that such feelings existed when there was the tussle between both the hockey teams. Those days, hockey was the game and both countries were world-beaters. Cricket, though popular, tried hard to get recognition; how the tables have been turned.

Back to the present. In all probability, India will field the same winning combination. But the Centurion wicket could be responsive to spin — it’s the end of the season — and I’d like to see India try out Kumble in addition to Harbhajan Singh. They bowl well in tandem.

But there is hardly any scope for change except that the axe may fall on Dinesh Mongia. That means a well-deserved promotion in batting order to Dravid and Yuvraj.

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If India wins the toss, they have to bat first on this lovely track. A total of 250 to 260 should be more than enough to attack the Pak batting with full force. For that, our batsmen should avoid getting bogged down in the middle overs.

If India are required to bat second, our three great pacemen in form can take advantage of the early juice in the wicket and under no circumstances, allow the enemy to score more than 200 runs.

For a team that must win the match, the odds are heavily against Pakistan. Their batting is in the doldrums. They rely heavily on their main batsman, Inzaman, who’s going through a bad patch at the moment. Their other reliable batsman, Yohana, is struggling to get going in the middle.

Their fielding has certainly deteriorated to great extent. Their two fast bowlers, Wakar and Wasim may be playing their last World Cup. Shoaib Akhtar can produce the fastest ball in the world but when it comes to one-day cricket, that may not suffice to get entire lot out: this was the scene against England.

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While Pakistan seem to have lost all confidence in their abilities, India is surging ahead with tremendous confidence with three successive wins. The last was the most creditable as they outclassed the English in every department.

The pace attack, hitherto a weak point in Indian team’s armor, now appears to be the best in the tournament. The way they are bowling, they have become almost indispensable.

India do look very charged up in every respect. I think they are determined to prove to their millions of fans back home that they were wrong in assessing them after the game against Australia.

So it looks as though everything’s going India’s way. But you just cannot afford to be complacent and take the things lightly against Pakistan. They have a reputation of bouncing back, especially when it comes to playing India. They get together pretty well and fight much harder putting in extra effort. Ultimately, it comes down to a battle of nerves.

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