Asia Cup 2010: Pakistan versus India match preview
As the Asia cup progresses on with Sri Lanka taking on Bangladesh today and then the all important clash between the arch rivals India and Pakistan on the 19th of June (tomorrow), the captains of the four countries participating in the Asia Cup feel that the timing of the Asia cup this year is ideal. This is because the tournament will allow them to test and experiment with some of their bench strength including both youngsters and experienced players to start their campaign for finding the ideal combination of batsmen, bowlers and all-rounder’s for next year’s ICC World Cup.
The reason why the Asia Cup is expected to be a good practice session prior to the World Cup in the sub-continent is because the tournament features all four of the Test-playing Asian nations. As a result, the stakes become higher and the games become more competitive because when teams like India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan play against each other, it means that one half of the overall cricketing pie is competing against each other.
The fact also remains that one of these teams, if not all, are expected to play in the last four of the ICC World Cup next year.
Be it India with their star-studded batting line-up, Sri Lanka with their attacking batting and spin bowling or Pakistan with their unpredictable aggressive attitude and fast bowling options - all together form the basis of cricketing in the world. Asian teams’ also gather the highest number of television and on-field audiences in the world. An excellent example is the Indian Premier League, which has so far in its three events got overwhelming fan following.
All the four captains believe that in light of the World Cup being a few months away the Asia Cup is all about building confidence.
Building confidence is the first approach that teams will be looking towards, especially India, after their disappointing performance in Zimbabwe, where they failed to qualify for the final of the tri-series. Pakistan comes into the tournament after getting thrashed by the Australians in Australia only to hear more bad news in terms of fines and bans by the Pakistan cricket board. As a result, the entire formation of the Pakistan team has been shaken.
The toughest job remains that of the Bangladesh captain and his management as to how they will lift the moral of their players. Ever since their inception into cricket, Bangladesh cricket has only a handful of cricketing moments to rejoice. Even in the Asia Cup so far, the Bangladeshi team have been less than impressive.
So with the goals set, what is it that the teams are doing in terms of their own field performances?
Sri Lanka who is favoured to lift this year’s Asia Cup is doing a good job so far of keeping that hope alive. They had a touch match against Pakistan, but when it came down to the battle of nerves when they proved to be the better team by winning by 16 runs.
Pakistan in their one game so far against Sri Lanka looked good with their bowling and fielding as they managed to get regular wickets. However, their indiscipline in the batting department other than Afridi caused a collapse at the top-order.
The experiment phase of trying out younger and senior redundant players did not pay off. Pakistan’s injury-express Shoaib Akhtar bowled an impressive spell of 3 wickets in 10 over’s conceding 41 runs.
Coming over to India, they are yet to prove what they have learned from their Zimbabwe debacle. So far, the only match they have played against Bangladesh resulted in a victory.
Half way into the tournament, Sri Lanka is looking to take control of their game against Bangladesh. However, all eyes are focused on the biggest match of the tournament, and that of course being the match between India and Pakistan.
Both teams have a lot to prove and if you ask both Pakistani and Indian fans how badly they want their respective team to win, the most probable answer one would get is that they won’t care whether their respective team wins or loses the Asia Cup as long as they beat their arch nemesis in the all important clash tomorrow.
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