Pak pace vs Indian batting

Yet,despite the history and the weight of numbers,every such encounter comes with the same heightened edge; for statistical supremacy or venue-specific head-to-head records rarely decide cricket games,especially those featuring India and Pakistan. If history and numbers were all that counted,MS Dhoni wouldn’t have been circumspect about his side’s chances,Younis Khan wouldn’t be smiling as much as he was and a ticketless fan outside Centurion wouldn’t have offered to be an amputee for the rest of his life just to get access to the stadium on Saturday.

The anticipation over this clash — likely to be the most-watched match of the event — has been even higher than usual owing to a couple of factors. Due to the strained relationship between the neighbours,there’s been a freeze on bilateral games. And having played each other twice in the first world T20,they didn’t run into each other at the England edition at all.

Pakistan have a head-start in this tournament,having put their first points on the board with a nervy win over West Indies,but India will be confident as well after winning the tri-series in Sri Lanka despite coming off a long lay-off.

Traditional strengths

Looking at the cast,despite the presence of a few new faces,chances are the old foes will be once again banking on their traditional strengths

— and the decisive act should involve the fast bowlers in green and the batsmen in blue.

That’s where the Indian side seems to be at a slight disadvantage. The absence of old hands Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh has diluted the strength of the Indian batting,while Pakistan’s pace battery is at full-strength,with Mohammad Aamer,Umar Gul and Naved Rana doing the damage in the opener and a proven match-winner in Mohammad Asif sitting on the bench.

Younis Khan’s selection headaches,as a result,should be those of a pleasant variety,while MS Dhoni will have to make sure he makes the right choice between rookie Virat Kohli and the relatively less inexperienced Dinesh Karthik.

And if the high-profile duel between the Indian batsmen and Pakistan bowlers ends in a stalemate,the less-fancied second round — between an out-of-sorts Indian pace attack and Pakistan’s shaky batting line-up — could prove decisive. Either way,it should be a lot of fun.