MOHALI – Excitement rose and security tightened on Tuesday ahead of the cricket World Cup showdown between India and Pakistan, one of the great sporting contests that has huge political significance.
The South Asia neighbours, whose shared history of brotherhood and bloodshed adds intensity to any encounter, will meet Wednesday in the semi-final of the World Cup in what will be one the highlights of the competition.
Speculation has reached fever pitch about the outcome of the epic clash and whether it will help relations between the old nuclear-armed foes, who have fought three wars since independence in 1947.
A Facebook poll on “Who Will Win The Semifinal” had drawn 750,000 votes on Tuesday morning, with two thirds voting for India – perhaps reflecting the country’s role as favourites and its superior population weight.
With so much at stake and the history of militant attacks in South Asia, a security blanket involving 2,000 police and paramilitaries – reportedly armed with anti-aircraft guns and missiles – has been thrown around the venue.
“We are leaving nothing to chance. The security will be multi-layered,” local police chief G.P.S. Bhullar told reporters on Tuesday. As part of security checks, late-night raids were conducted at various hotels around the venue in the town of Mohali in northwest India and nearby Chandigarh on Monday night to weed out suspicious visitors.
Guests were asked to open their doors at midnight to allow security personnel to scan their luggage.
Teams
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and Munaf Patel.
Coach: Gary Kirsten (RSA)
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (capt), Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Ahmed Shahzad
Coach: Waqar Younis (PAK)
Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS) and Ian Gould (ENG)
TV umpire: Billy Bowden (NZL)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)
Match start: 0900GMT
Pitch conditions: Renowned as a good batting surface, it usually also has plenty of pace and bounce for fast bowlers too.
