Colombo to host high-octane India-Pakistan clash

All roads will lead to the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo when India takes on their arch-rivals Pakistan in a historic Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup Group ‘A’ fixture today, commencing at 7.00 p.m.

Sri Lanka will perhaps not host an Olympic Games in the near future. Not even a Commonwealth Games. But for Sri Lanka the India-Pakistan clash in the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup is its Olympics.

Both teams have four points each from their two wins so far in the tournament with the defending champions India topping the points table with a superior net run rate of 3.050.

India started their campaign with a smashing 29-run victory over the United States of America (USA) and followed up with a thumping 93-run win over another Associate Nation Namibia.

In contrast, the former champions had a horror start to their campaign where the Netherlands nearly pulled off a major upset before Pakistan held their nerve to snatch a three-wicket win with three deliveries to spare at the SSC Grounds in Colombo.

Pakistan made amends in their second outing as they cruised to a morale boosting 32-run win over the USA at the same venue with opener and Man-of-the-Match Sahibzada Farhan smashing a 41-ball 73.

In fact, Pakistan are on a five-match unbeaten streak having also trounced Australia 3-0 in the recent bilateral T20I Series on their home grounds.

The R. Premadasa Stadium, which can accommodate a maximum of 35,000 spectators, has already reached its full capacity, with every ticket sold out through the ICC website.

In an extraordinary turn, more than 88,000 ticket requests were received for the match, far exceeding the stadium’s limit and signalling the explosive global demand for cricket’s most iconic rivalry.

Even then, India holds a clear advantage over their rivals having won all five previous matches between the two countries with the latest being the Asia Cup final in September last year in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

That match, of course, ended in a controversial manner as India, who won the Asia Cup for the ninth time, refused to accept the trophy as it was to be presented by the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board and Asian Cricket Council President Mohsin Naqvi.

Pakistan’s last win over India also came in the 2022 T20 Asia Cup where Mohammad Nawaz hammered a 22-ball 42 to take his side over the line with one ball to spare after India had amassed 181 for seven in their Super Four match in Dubai.

After their Asia Cup rivalry, both teams are now well set for another high-profile clash with Pakistan out to avenge that defeat with an improved performance.

Pakistan will also feel that they are more confident having got accustomed to the hot and humid weather in Colombo during their two matches played at the SSC Grounds.

The Squads

Pakistan: Salman Agha (Captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan and Usman Tariq.

India: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Rinku Singh.

Source - Sunday Observer