India vs Pakistan: Where stakes are higher than usual

Following a wash out against New Zealand, India will hope to restart their World Cup quest against their arch nemesis Pakistan at Old Trafford in Manchester on Sunday. India taking on Pakistan is always a match to keep a keen eye on given the history the two nations have shared outside the boundaries of 22 yards.

This is a fixture where the urge of winning way beyond the sport. It is about being the best. It is about asserting the dominance, something which India have enjoyed, at least at the World Cup. Having won all of their six World Cup games against Pakistan, the Men in Blue would love to build on their unbeaten run on Sunday as well. For Pakistan though, their victory in the 2017 Champions Trophy final remains the solitary optimistic trait from their last five encounters. It is their only victory over India since February 2015.

All these figures, however, would hardly matter once the players get onto the field. As far as injuries are concerned, opener Shikhar Dhawan is no longer in available for selection and KL Rahul is expected to be promoted up the order to open the innings with Rohit Sharma. And his figures as an opener is something which certainly won’t give India a lot to worry.

Pakistan, on the other hand, have no real worries. Their squad, especially the bowling contingent boasts of personnel who are well and truly capable of giving the Indian batsmen a run for their money. Mohammad Amir, on his part, is enjoying a fruitful outing in England thus far, picking 10 wickets in just three games at an average of 12.30.

As far as the ICC event goes, he’s a different beast altogether.

And remember it were his figures of 3/16 in the Champions Trophy final that guided Pakistan to a win.

All this aside, it is actually the rain which might affect the result. It was on Friday morning that rain drizzled around the industrial city of Manchester, only for the Sun to take a gaze peak soon after. That’s typical English weather, to say the least.

Positively, the rain didn’t affect the city for the most part of the day. Pessimistically though, the weather report for Saturday and Sunday is something to take note of, and it is the latter which is expected to be affected majorly. Reports are that rain is extremely likely in the afternoon which could well and truly affect the second half of the game.

If not for a complete washout, expect the fixture to be heavily cloudy with a short spell of showers hampering the progress. The game starts at 10:30 AM local time in Manchester, and the rain is expected to hit the ground between 12 PM local time to 2 PM.  

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Dibyangshu Sarkar