<i>India vs. Pakistan </i>
Photo: AFP
Few rivalries in cricket can match that between India and Pakistan. As Geoff Lawson so rightly puts it ; this series between the two teams (which started from Nov.5 in India), is indeed 'bigger than ashes.' And for fans in the subcontinent, particularly in our country, we simply love to see India playing against Pakistan-- be it one-day, Test or Twenty20 match. Cricketing ties between the two nations at one point looked bleak. But 2004 was the turning point as this was the year that cricket matches between the two countries resumed officially. This series is bound to be exciting with India having recently defeated Pakistan in the eventful Twenty20 World Cup final. I feel that the Indians are the favourites because at home they are invincible and their batting with Yuvraj, Dhoni, Uthappa is simply a lethal force-capable of demolishing any bowling . This Indian team will not have Dravid and his exclusion can have consequences since he was a solid batsman -the backbone of Indian middle-order. Tendulkar and Ganguly may be playing their last series against Pakistan and so they will want to prove their worth once again. India's bowling is also fairly competitive with Pathan , Harbhajan , the “infamous” Sreesanth, all looking set to make this series a memorable one. However, the Indians look more comfortable in the Twenty20 arena where cameos or individual performances can help them. But in one-days they need collective performance which was missing against Australia. Pakistan's morale may be a bit down since they lost both the Test and one-day series against South Africa at home recently. But Pakistan also have a good bowling line-up with Akhtar back and with bowlers like Gul, Rehman and Rao, Indian batsmen may find it a bit hard to tackle the Pakistani bowling . Pakistan's openers have struggled consistently and that is one point where their batting requires significant improvement. They can't always expect Malik, Yousuf or Misbah to steer them to safety unless the openers set a commendable total on board. Then again, they are as always an unpredictable team. The Indians may have lost against the Aussies but against Pakistan they will try to win at any cost. Similarly, Pakistan will also play with equal enthusiasm and spirit because the players know that India vs. Pakistan matches are not simply matches fought for the sake of winning but also played for pride and prestige. Both the teams will try to give their 100 percent and hopefully this series will be a series to remember.
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