India versus Pakistan is the biggest clash in world cricket. But setting aside the off-field issues, the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup match in Ahmedabad on Saturday will see several one-on-one battles – from Babar Azam against Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma facing Shaheen Shah Afridi to Virat Kohli coming up against Haris Rauf.
The previous meeting between the two sides took two days for a result to emerge, but it saw Kohli and Rahul score sublime centuries to put on a massive 356/2 against Pakistan in the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup, played in the 50-over format. Kuldeep Yadav also picked up a five-for as Pakistan saw all three of their fast bowlers fail to trouble the Indian batters.
This match also saw Naseem Shah pick up an injury that eventually him ruled out of the remainder of the Asia Cup and then the World Cup. Meanwhile, Rauf did not take further part in the rest of the tournament and Afridi too was under observation after suffering a thumb injury while fielding.
But aside from the history between these two teams, they haven’t met each other outside of ICC tournaments since the 2012-13 series in India that Pakistan won 2-1.
Shubman Gill, whose return after a bout of dengue is yet to be determined, had said before the Super 4 clash that due to not being able to play Pakistan in One-Day International bilateral series, it was difficult to judge the opposition.
India captain Sharma, however, will take confidence in the way that his batters managed to tackle the Pakistan fast bowlers in Colombo, but will be wary of a completely different set-up in the heat of Ahmedabad.
Both teams will come into this high-octane clash with two wins under their belt. For Pakistan, Mohammad Rizwan and Abdullah Shafique put on a brilliant partnership in their record chase against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad while their win against Netherlands was orchestrated by the bowlers and Saud Shakeel’s innings.
India will also have similar confidence after the spinners, led by Ravindra Jadeja demolished Australia in the opening match before captain Sharma took Afghanistan by storm with his century on Wednesday.
For India, winning this match in a dominant fashion will surely put them on course to top the standings while Pakistan will be hoping to get their first win against the hosts in a World Cup on Saturday, having not beaten them once in seven outings.
Conditions and pitch report
The opening game of the World Cup was played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad where New Zealand beat defending champions England by nine wickets. Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra put on a mammoth partnership of 273 to cruise to the target of 283 with 13.4 overs to spare.
It wasn’t a big scoring match but the ease with which Conway and Ravindra tackled the likes of Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and an expensive Mark Wood indicates a pitch suiting batters.
Although Bumrah hasn’t played an ODI at this venue, he and Mohammed Siraj will find enough to trouble the Pakistan openers while Afridi will look to make early inroads as well.
A 2 pm start means that whoever bats first will be doing so under the extreme heat with averages of 36º predicted for Saturday. Although rain could play a slight spoilsport with the Indian Meteorological Department predicting light showers in the evening in the Ahmedabad district.
The last time India played an ODI in Ahmedabad was during the three match series against the West Indies in 2022, which was coincidentally Sharma’s first proper outing as captain. India won that series 3-0.
Key players
India: Kuldeep Yadav, who is currently India’s leading spinner in the ODI format, has been in good form, picking up three wickets so far in the tournament. His 5/25 in the Asia Cup fixture last month saw the Pakistan middle order being cut down, with Bumrah, Shardul Thakur and Hardik Pandya picking up one wicket each. Yadav once again will be crucial in stifling the middle order if Ashwin Ravichandran isn’t called back into the team after being dropped for Thakur against Afghanistan.
Pakistan: Babar Azam will hope that his batting form has a change of fortunes against India, with the Pakistan captain in desperate need of runs. Since his century against Nepal in the Asia Cup opener in Multan over a month and half ago, Azam hasn’t crossed 30, his highest score of 29 coming in the two-wicket loss to Sri Lanka that saw them crash out of the Asia Cup. Scores of 5 and 10 against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka respectively are not the best representation of one of the best batters of this generation. But Azam, not just his teammates and fans, will be aiming to find his rhythm once again and even better if it is against arch-rivals India.
India v Pakistan head-to-head record
Last five meetings:
Sep 10, 2023: Colombo – India won by 228 runs
Sep 2, 2023: Pallekele – No result
Jun 16, 2019: Manchester – India won by 89 runs
Sep 23, 2018: Dubai – India won by nine wickets
Sep 19, 2018: Dubai – India won by eight wickets
Overall in the World Cup:
Total: 7 matches
India: 7 wins
Pakistan: 0
Tied: 0
No Result: 0
The match will be be live streamed on Disney+Hotstar and broadcast live on Star Sports.
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