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India-Pakistan face-offs are a more refined version of competition today. They are now shorn of the rawness, the blind we-are-fighting-the-political-enemy and vengeful mentality that they first came with when active cricket between the two countries was restored in early 2004, but are still tempered with a clear understanding that while this may not exactly be war, it is a little more than just another game, and it is a game that needs to be won.
Going in to the game, both teams will perhaps feel a sense of space and comfort, finally facing am opposition who are more like themselves. Having gotten off difficult and trying tournaments against the disciplined and bull-headed Australians and South Africans, they will now face teams that are, like themselves, mercurial and built on flair.
Pakistan carried a very clear pattern through their series against South Africa, and it will one that the Indians will be looking to exploit. Pakistan average 31 runs per batsman, but very significantly, a great deal of credit for that average goes to Mohammad Yousuf, who stands tall with a personal average of 41. Only two other batsmen in the line up do better than the team average - Shoaib Malik with 34.15 and revealing a bit of unexplored power, Yasir Hameed with 37.53. This indicates a centrifugal force to the Pakistani batting line up, one that India will be looking to break.
The Indian batting line up looks a tad stronger on paper. While the gap in the batting average isn't very wide (32 for India as against Pakistan's 31), this average comes despite one of their batting mainstays (Dravid) not being in the side. The point being, should Pakistan lose Yousuf and Malik cheaply, the gap could just turn out to be too wide for the rest of the batsmen to fill.
South Africa managed to put up a fair show in their series against Pakistan primarily because the opening batsmen managed, more often than not, to set up a platform to cover a fall in the middle overs. To repeat that, the focus will once again fall on the Sachin-Saurav-Sehwag opening top order trio, and their duels against Shoaib will acquire more meaning than just a clash of the teams' leading superstars. This will be of far greater importance when it comes to a day game with early morning starts, such as the one tommorow, where the seamers will get generous help.Having said that, the Indian batsmen could cope better with the spells woven by the spinners Afridi and Rehman in the middle overs.
The history of both the sides will reveal that their victories have come more through spectacular individual efforts rather than team play. Both sides have their fair share of match-winners, who can turn a game over on their own if they hit the right notes. The story of this series could depend on how many such right notes are hit.
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