WhatMatch 13 of the ICC World Twenty20, 2014
WhenFriday, March 21, (13:30 GMT | 19:30 Local | 19:00 IST)
WhereShere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
The Teams
IndiaFresh from the Asia Cup heartbreak, Team India have gathered in Bangladesh once again. What is crucial is that MS Dhoni has returned to bolster the team on the batting and keeping front.
The Indians have had mixed performance in the two warm-up matches, with a win and a loss each. The good news is that the batsmen have struck form and the slow bowlers have been among wickets. The worrying factor is that the pacers have been expensive in both matches.
Considering the nature of the Mirpur wicket and India’s strength, they might go in with both, R Ashwin and Amit Mishra with Ravindra Jadeja chipping in as part-time slow bowler. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami can be expected to man the pace department.
On the batting front, the only choice is that between Yuvraj Singh and Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane’s recent form in the longer formats has been quite good while Yuvraj ended his domestic run-draught with a 33 against Sri Lanka in the first warm-up. Yuvraj’s bowling prowess might just put him ahead of Rahane on the team management’s radar.
PakistanThe shorter the format, the more dangerously unpredictable Pakistan are as a team. While they chased down New Zealand’s 145 in their first warm-up, they were skittled out for 71 against South Africa in the second. Against India, it is wise to expect the brilliant Pakistan to turn up. And although the format was different, they will carry the confidence of their Asia Cup win over the neighbours.
Unlike their opponents, Pakistan will go with a pace-heavy attack, hence sticking to their own strength. However, the spin-friendly conditions will dictate that Saeed Ajmal and part-time spinners, Mohammad Hafeez and Shahid Afridi, will play crucial roles.
While bowling is Pakistan’s strong suit, it is the batting that is mostly responsible for them blowing hot and cold. With Kamran Akmal among runs, Mohammad Hafeez’s fondness to perform against India and Shahid Afridi, Pakistan will hope for a decent batting show.
Key Players
IndiaHis scores of 41 and 54 in the warm-ups suggest that Suresh Raina seems to have put his time away from the Indian team to great use. The more assuring factor is that the two knocks came against very different bowling attacks – Sri Lanka and England – and batting at different positions – three and five respectively. Raina’s role at No. 4 or 5 could be a game-changing one.
PakistanMohammad Hafeeez averages 44 and 33 against India in ODIs and T20Is respectively. The Pakistan T20 captain certainly enjoys playing against the arch rivals. He will, no doubt, be a key cog in Pakistan’s batting line-up in their tournament opener. Moreover, when it comes to India, Hafeez is also a handful with the ball – he has picked nine Indian wickets in as many ODIs. To make matters worse for the opposition, he is in fine form too.
Statistics
Result summary in Twenty20 Internationals
|
Mts
|
Won
|
Lost
|
NR
|
Win%
|
|
India
|
46
|
26
|
19
|
1
|
56.52
|
|
Pakistan
|
78
|
48
|
30
|
0
|
61.54
|
India-Pakistan in World Twenty20
|
Date
|
Venue
|
Batted 1st
|
Batted 2nd
|
Result
|
|
14/09/2007
|
Durban
|
Ind 141/9
|
Pak 141/7
|
Match Tied
(India won the bowl-out)
|
|
24/09/2007
|
Johannesburg
|
Ind 157/5
|
Pak 152
|
India won by 5
runs
|
|
30/09/2012
|
Colombo RPS
|
Pak 128
|
Ind 129/2
|
India won by 8
wickets
|
Last 5 matches (Most recent listed first)
India: W W L L W
Pakistan: L W W W L
Trivia
Pakistan have never beaten India in a World Cup match. India have won all three in Twenty20 World Cup and all five in ODI World Cup.
Yuvraj Singh needs 65 runs to surpass Gautam Gambhir’s Indian record of most (932) runs in Twenty20 Internationals.
The top-three bowlers in Twenty20 Internationals are all Pakistani – Saeed Ajmal (81), Umar Gul (74) and Shahid Afridi (73).
Shahid Afridi is the only player to aggregate 1000 runs and 50 wickets in Twenty20 Internationals.
Squads
India: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Amit Mishra, Stuart Binny, Mohit Sharma, Varun Aaron, Ravindra Jadeja
Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Ahmed Shahzad, Bilawal Bhatti, Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Talha, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Shohaib Maqsood, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar
