India
vs
Pakistan
Match Schedule:
Date: September 26th D/N
Time:12:30 (GMT)
India and Pakistan will play in their first game of the year in Saturday’s clash at Centurion in the Champions trophy. Pakistan has already beaten West Indies in their first game, whereas India will be playing their first match.
The bookmakers may have installed the Indians as favourites win the game – 4/5 at Stan James – as compared to 5/4 being offered by Sky Bet for Pakistan to beat the opposition, but that has more to do with India’s record in the last couple of seasons. However, they are missing three of their main players in the tournament, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan, which will have its effect on the team balance.
India will heavily depend on Sachin Tendulkar (10/3 at Bet365 to be India’s best batsman) to deliver the goods. Not only will he be opening the innings, but also has had a good run in the fifty overs version in the last 12 months or so. Gautam Gambhir (4/1 at Bet365 to be India’s best batsman) will look to rotate as much strike as possible at the top, but whether his groin holds up through the entire duration of the innings is a question mark. M.S.Dhoni (5/1 at Sky Bet to top India’s batting) has looked good in the middle order, but in the absence of Yuvraj, he will have to double up as a sheet anchor and a blaster, which will be something of a new role for him.
Despite the offer of 9/2 by 888Sport for Rahul Dravid to top score the innings, one senses that Suresh Raina (6/1 at Sky Bet) will be promoted up the order and could end up being the best Indian batsman. Abhishek Nayar (20/1 at Sky Bet to be India’s best batsman) may get his first chance to play in this game, after his previous attempts had left him without a chance to bat or bowl.
For Pakistan, Younus Khan (4/1 at Ladbrokes to top the Pakistani batting) will make a re-entry into the side, but that will mean that one of the batsmen will have to sit out. With Imran Nazir having not shown any kind of form at the top, he could face the axe, and Shoaib Malik (6/1 at Sky Bet to be their batsman) or Shahid Afridi (12/1 at Stan James to be the best batsman) could be asked to open the innings. One of the two seniors in the side apart from Younus Khan, that is, Misbah-ul-Haq (6/1 at 888Sport to end up being the highest scorer for Pakistan) and Mohammad Yousuf (5/1 at Stan James to be Pakistan’s best) will need to play out the entire set of overs without getting out, and allow youngsters like Umar Akmal (8/1 at Sky Bet to top the batting) to play their natural game. Akmal’s maturity in the previous game was much to write home about and he could be the player to watch out for in the future.
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