Preview: India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2012, March 18

India vs Pakistan, 2012

The most awaited match of the Asia Cup, India vs Pakistan, is round the corner and has turned out to be one of the decisive matches of the tournament. What was being billed as a dress rehearsal for the Final has turned into a virtual semi-final for India following their surprise loss to hosts Bangladesh on Friday.
It was all smooth sailing for India till they got a rude shock in the form of a resurgent Bangladesh team. Tendulkar had finally got his 100th century and India had posted a formidable 289. Then the Indian bowling was exposed big time by the Bangladesh batsmen. It will be the bowling that will be the major concern for skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni come Sunday when India take on arch rivals Pakistan.
Pakistan come into the match with the knowledge that they have reached the final on the back of a clinical performance against Sri Lanka. They also come into the match with the knowledge that they have a chance to knock India out of the tournament. Whether that will serve as motivation enough for them to go into the match determined to win is to be seen.
India have all the thinking to do, particularly in the bowling department. Vinay Kumar is most likely to return in place of Ashok Dinda who had a miserable return to international cricket(5.2-1-38-0). Irfan Pathan also had a forgettable day going wiketless for 61 off his 9 overs. R Ashwin has been the biggest disappointment though. Not only has he not looked like picking up a wicket , he has not been able to exercise any sort of control over the batsmen. Ravindra Jadeja is also a very dubious inclusion in the side. He did not bowl his full quota of overs and played only two balls. One wonders if Yusuf Pathan might be a better addition to the team. Praveen Kumar had a decent game.
Overall it should be a cracker of a game between the games fiercest arch-rivals. India have everything to play for and Pakistan have a chance to knock India out of the tournament.
Key Players-India-Sachin Tendulkar has finally scored his 100th ton and we should see a much more relaxed and free flowing Tendulkar against Pakistan, something Pakistan will be wary of.
Pakistan-Saeed Ajmal had got the better of Sachin Tendulkar the last time these two teams met and will look to pick up the prize wicket of the maestro.
Teams-India(probable)- 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni(c&wk), 7 Yusuf Pathan/ Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 R Ashwin/ Rahul Sharma, 10 Praveen Kumar, 11 Vinay Kumar
Pakistan(probable)-1 Mohammed Hafeez, 2 Nasir Jamshed, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Misbah ul haq(c), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Hammad Azam, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Safraz Ahmed(wk), 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Aizaz Cheema

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