India vs Pakistan on Sunday: India should win, if it doesn’t rain

The ICC World Cup has revived memories of a nursery rhyme that has several versions. The version I used to parrot was: ‘Rain rain go away/Come again another day/ Little Johnny wants to play.” Of course, international cricketers competing for the coveted trophy are grown-ups. Deep within, however, all of them must be hoping that rains won’t play spoilsport any further.

In a tournament marred by washouts, the biggest match until now will be played on Sunday. India will lock horns against Pakistan, whose rivalry is the outcome of their shared political history. The Indian team is being spoken of as one of the favourites to lift the trophy. Pakistan, on the other hand, are a mercurial side that can go down meekly against a weak team or decimate a tournament favourite, depending on the day.

The tournament report card shows that India have been in very good form. The team has won its first two matches against South Africa and Australia with remarkable ease. These emphatic wins must have given a lot of confidence to the squad, which will take on their arch-rivals tomorrow. India also had to share points with New Zealand following a washout, the outcome of playing a sport that’s at the mercy of weather gods.

The one big loss for India is opener Shikhar Dhawan, who has, historically, been a star in ICC tournaments. Ruled out because of an unfortunate injury, whether or not Dhawan’s absence at the top of the order will be felt remains to be seen.

While India have made a convincing start in the tournament, Pakistan’s form has been rather baffling. Destroyed by the West Indies in their opening match, they upset tournament favourites England in their second encounter.

After sharing points with Sri Lanka due to a washout, they lost to Australia in a match that was much more closely fought than the scorecard suggests. In the end, Australia’s score of 307 proved to be beyond reach for Pakistan, who fell 41 runs short of the target. For the losing team, Mohammad Amir bowled a superb five-for spell, restricting the Australians, who were threatening to go past 350 at one point of time. But Amir’s masterclass wasn’t enough for Pakistan, who must now be looking forward to their match against India to add precious points to their tally.

Indian cricket fans have been making frequent references to history to illustrate the Men in Blue’s superiority over their rivals in the World Cup. Although overall ODI record shows that Pakistan have won 73 and lost 54 ODIs against India, the latter maintain a spotless record against the former in the World Cup, having won all the six matches in which the two teams have clashed against each other.

In 1992, India beat Pakistan by 43 runs in Sydney. The next encounter in Bengaluru in 1996 saw India win by 39 runs. India registered their third win in Manchester in 1999 by 47 runs, followed by another in Centurion in 2003 by six wickets, in Mohali in 2011 by 29 runs and, finally, in Adelaide in 2015 by 76 runs.

Statistics, in its own way, is a slice of history. India’s performance against Pakistan in the World Cup, in other words, makes for good reading. But it is the performances of the two teams on Sunday that will decide the outcome of the match.

India’s inexperienced middle order and Dhawan’s exit notwithstanding, the team that has world-class performers like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and Jasprit Bumrah is much stronger than Pakistan on paper.

At the same time, Pakistan’s cricketing stars like Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam and Mohammad Amir will try to do what it takes to win for their team - if rains don’t lead to the fifth washout of the tournament.