Only pride at stake as India take on Pakistan

June 14, 2013

India_take_on_PakistanBirmingham, Jun 14: The result would only be of academic interest but it is unlikely to be just another dead rubber when traditional foes India and Pakistan take on each other in their final Group B match of the Champions Trophy here tomorrow.

Like every time they have clashed in the history of the game, arch-rivals India and Pakistan will be taking fresh guard at Edgbaston tomorrow.

With India already in the semifinals and Pakistan out of the competition, the last group B league fixture of the ICC Champions Trophy will only be of academic interest, but only just.

When the Champions Trophy tickets went online for sale in April this year, it took all of 30 minutes for the allocated tickets to be lapped up. The insatiable demand from Indian and Pakistani fans will mean tomorrow's game will be more than a dead rubber.

Birmingham is the second most populous city outside of London. The city is home to a chunky mass of Asian expats whose voracious appetite for cricket has always seen Edgbaston wearing its prettiest frock when India and Pakistan play.

At least 90 per cent of the 25,000 capacity crowd is expected to be divided between the sub-continental cricket giants.

There are many ways to look at any India versus Pakistan clash. From an emotional standpoint, supporters of both teams will start from scratch but the final equation will be determined by how the players ultimately perform in the middle.

Like any such battle where mind and matter go hand in hand, tomorrow's contest will be unique as it will test both skill and mental toughness of the players.

With nothing to lose, Pakistan can be a dangerous enemy.

The agony of crashing out of the Champions Trophy after two horrible performances against West Indies and South Africa will be instantly forgotten if Pakistan can beat India, the reigning World Cup champions and the No. 1 ODI team according to the ICC.

Champions Trophy history is, of course, siding with Pakistan. They have never lost to India in six editions of this event.

Pakistan's first win in this tournament came at Edgbaston in September, 2004. Chasing 201 for a win, Mohammad Yousuf (then known as Yousuf Youhana) scored an unbeaten 81 to anchor Pakistan to a three-wicket victory with four balls to spare.

In head-to-head, Pakistan made it 2-0 against India in the Champions Trophy with a 54-run win at the Supersport Park in Centurion in September 2009.

Shoaib Malik scored a 126-ball 128 to give Pakistan's experienced bowling attack 302 runs to defend. Two run outs -- Gautam Gambhir (57) and Rahul Dravid (76) -- doomed India.

Suresh Raina's 46 went in vain as Mohammed Amir, Naved-ul-Hasan, Saaed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi picked up two wickets apiece to consign India to a big defeat.

Purely on form, India have a good chance to pull one back at Pakistan this time. A win will take India to the top of group B with six full points and they will travel to Cardiff to play the No. 2 team in group A.

India opened their Champions Trophy campaign against South Africa in Cardiff with a

26-run victory on June 6.

Like most encounters between the arch-rivals, tomorrow's match will be a clash between Pakistan's bowlers and India's batsmen. With rain soaking Edgbaston on Wednesday and Thursday and the sun playing hide and seek, conditions may not be ideal for high scores.

But India will back themselves largely because they have posted 300-plus scores thrice in four games, twice in warm-up matches.

The toss, therefore, will be crucial as the team batting second will have the advantage of pacing its innings according to the circumstances.

Both India and Pakistan have sound knowledge of the Edgbaston wicket. Riding on hundreds from Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik, India chased down 333 with consummate ease here in a warm-up match against Sri Lanka on June 1.

Pakistan, on the other hand, were shot out for 167, chasing South Africa's 234 for nine

in a group league game on June 10.

Pakistan's batting has been a serious worry in this tournament. The absence of a

grafter in the top-order has exposed the brittle middle-order too soon.

Except opener Nasir Jamshed and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, none of the batsmen have fired. Mohammed Hafeez and Malik's poor run with the bat hit Pakistan hard.

India's batting remains their biggest strength. The opening combination of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan has worked like magic.

Against quality pace attacks, especially against a South African pace quartet, the duo put on 100-plus stands that gave set up the middle-order to control the innings.

Dhawan has been outstanding with back-to-back centuries. The last time the teams met, Pakistan surprised hosts India 2-1 in a short series in December 2012-January 2013.

The left-handed Jamshed made it a memorable tour with back-to-back-hundreds at Chepauk and Eden Gardens. Pakistan won both games.

But come tomorrow, the battle lines will be drawn afresh and only pride and honour will be at stake.

Teams (from):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav.

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Asad Shafiq, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, M. Irfan, Asad Ali, Wahab Riaz, Umer Amin, Abdul Rehman, Ehsan Adil.

Match starts 3pm (IST).

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Agencies
January 5,2020

Mumbai, Jan 5: India captain Virat Kohli has refrained from making any comments on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), without gaining full knowledge on the sensitive subject.

The CAA will grant Indian nationality to people belonging to minority communities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians -- in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India instead of 12, even if they don't possess any proper document.

In 2016, Kohli had termed demonetisation as the "greatest move in history of Indian politics", which met with sharp criticism from a lot of quarters, with people questioning his knowledge on the subject.

With Guwahati witnessing massive protests against the CAA till some days back, Kohli was asked about it and the Indian skipper weighed his words carefully.

"On the issue, I do not want to be irresponsible and speak on something that has, you know, radical opinions both sides. I need to have total information, total knowledge of what it means and what is going on and then be responsible to give my opinion on it," Kohli said ahead of India's first T20 International against Sri Lanka.

The skipper made it clear that he will not like to get embroiled in a controversy by commenting on a subject that he is not well aware of.

"Because you can say one thing and then someone can say another thing. So, I would not like to get involved in something that I don't have total knowledge of and it's not going to be responsible on my part to comment on it." However Kohli on his part was happy with the security arrangements and felt that the city is "absolutely safe".

"The city is absolutely safe. We didn't see any problems on the roads," Kohli said, giving his thumbs-up for the match at the Barsapara Stadium.

The Assam Cricket Association is using this match as a "curtain-raiser" ahead of their maiden IPL match this season as Rajasthan Royals have adopted this venue.

There has been deployment of Rapid Action Force for the teams and ACA secretary Devajit Saikia has said the spectators will not even be allowed to bring along handkerchiefs and towels on the match-day as the traditional Assamese scarf was used for protests against CAA.

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News Network
June 27,2020

Jun 27: India's Test batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara cannot describe in words the influence that Rahul Dravid has had on his life but says he will always remain grateful to him for teaching the importance of switching off from cricket.

Often compared to Dravid, who was considered the 'wall' of Indian cricket, Pujara said he is thankful to Dravid for teaching him how to keep personal and professional lives separate.

"He helped me understand the importance of switching off from cricket. I had the same thought, more or less, but when I spoke to him, it gave me a lot of clarity about it and I was sure of what I needed to do," he told ESPNcricinfo.

"I also saw in county cricket how they keep personal and professional lives separate. I value that advice a lot. Many people consider me to be focused. Yes, I am focused, But I also know when to switch off. There is life beyond cricket."

In his illustrious international career, Dravid amassed 13288 runs in 164 Tests and 10889 runs in 344 ODIs. He also captained India in 79 ODIs, winning 42 of them, which includes the world record of 14 successive wins while chasing.

"I cannot say in one line what Rahul bhai means to me. He has always been an inspiration, and will remain one," Pujara said.

His mental fortitude and batting technique is often compared to Dravid but Pujara said "despite my enchantment with him" he never tried to "copy him."

"There is a similarity in our games, but that's not because of my fascination with him. That came mainly through my experiences with Saurashtra, where I learned that scoring a hundred alone isn't enough, you have to carry your team," he said.

"That is how I learned responsibility - it is about helping my team to raise a big total, and for that I ought to attach importance to my wicket. I learned that from my junior cricket days with Saurashtra, which was a weaker team in domestic cricket."

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News Network
April 7,2020

Bengaluru, April 7: India batsman Robin Uthappa has said that he reckons he still has a World Cup left in him, despite being out of the team for than four years.

Uthappa had last played a match for the Men in Blue in 2015 on the tour of Zimbabwe.

"Right now I want to be competitive. I still have that fire burning in me, I really want to compete and do well. I honestly believe I have a World Cup left in me, so I'm pursuing that, especially the shortest format. 

The blessings of lady luck or god or whatever you call it, plays a massive factor," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Uthappa as saying.

"Especially in India, it becomes so much more evident. I don't think it is as evident when you're playing cricket outside of India. But in the subcontinent and India especially, with the amount of talent that we do have in our country, all of those aspects become evident," he added.

The 34-year-old Uthappa has played 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is for India and he was also a part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad in 2007.

Uthappa has scored 934 runs in ODIs at an average of 25.94, while in T20Is his numbers are 249 runs at an average of 24.90.

"You can never write yourself off. You would be unfair to yourself if you write yourself off.

Especially if you believe you have the ability and you know that there is an outside chance. So I still believe in that outside chance," Uthappa said.

"I still believe that things can go my way and I probably can be a part of a World Cup-winning team and play an integral role in that as well.

Those dreams are still alive and I think I'll keep playing cricket till that is alive," he added.

Uthappa had enjoyed great success with IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders. He went on to become their leading run-scorer in the 2014 edition.

However, he was released by the side after a below-par 2019 season, and last November he was picked up by the Rajasthan Royals for the 2020 edition.

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