India-Pakistan rivalry resumes at Edgbaston

One of the biggest and the longest running cricket rivalries will be renewed when arch-rivals India and Pakistan lock horns in their opening fixture of the ICC Champions Trophy, 2017 on Sunday, June 4.

India lifted the Champions Trophy in 2013 and shared it with Sri Lanka in 2002, when the final was washed out. Pakistan is yet to win the tournament.

At a time when Indian Cricket is riddled with controversies and reports of rift between skipper Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble, the Indian team will be looking forward to overcome the out-of-field-controversies and put up a credible performance on the field. Pakistan, on the other hand, is a new-look outfit which would like to pose more challenges for the Indian side than they have earlier.

India’s on-field performance is reassuring. Although they played an entire season in home conditions before leaving for England, they easily won their warm up matches against New Zealand and Bangladesh. Pakistan, too, chased down a mammoth total of 343 against Bangladesh in their second warm up match, after their first match with Australia was abandoned due to rain.

Challenges

The arch-rivals, however, will have completely different challenges in store before the match starts. While India will look to put aside their internal issues, mainly the Coach-Captain rift, Pakistan team will look to rise above the demons of Team India that has often ended the Pak campaign in the ICC Championships in the past.

However, India’s star all-rounder, and a vital cog in the middle order of the Indian batting line-up, Yuvraj Singh, was seen walking towards the dressing room in discomfort during the second warm up game against Bangladesh. The southpaw didn’t feature in either of the warm up matches and if he has not recovered fully, he must be keeping the Indian management on their toes.

Although Dinesh Karthik proved his mettle in the middle order with a sublime 94 not out against Bangladesh, the team management will be keen on having Yuvraj in the playing XI as his left-arm spin could prove vital in India’s campaign of the title defence which they had previously won in 2013.

Pakistan, on the other hand, has never been able to emerge victorious against India in any limited overs World Cup matches but they have managed to defeat India two out of three times in the Champions Trophy clashes. However, since 2010 the two teams have squared up against each other eight times, with India emerging victorious in five of them. Pakistan would like to change some stats with a promising side that has travelled to England.

Trump Cards

India: Rohit Sharma

With Virat Kohli having had a poor run against the Australians in the Test series, followed by a below par performance in the Indian Premiere League (IPL), and with Shikhar Dhawan’s international form causing concern, Rohit Sharma will have an added responsibility as he will be facing the first ball of the Indian innings. Sharma has established himself as a modern day ODI masterclass with a record two double centuries in the limited overs format. He also holds the record for the highest individual score in ODIs with a 264 against Sri Lanka. Sharma, who was unfit to play in the latter half of a long Indian season, returned to form in the IPL and has a habit of converting his starts into huge, literally huge, scores and India would like the dashing opener to provide them with the much-needed start.

Pakistan: Mohammad Amir

Amir has an ability to swing the ball both ways, and in the air, and he will be posing a major threat in the star-studded Pakistani bowling line up. If Amir settles down and gets his length right, he will be a tough nut to crack for the Indian batsmen. Pakistan would be hoping for Amir to pick up Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli early so that they can build on from there to register a famous victory.

Teams

India: Virat Kohli(c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami

Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed(c), Ahmed Shehzad, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Fahim Ashraf , Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Shadab Khan, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail