After a drawn Twenty20 series both India and Pakistan are raring to go against each other but rain may play spoilsport in the first ODI of the three-match series to be played at the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium here today (Sunday).
The two-match Twenty20 series was an exciting affair and the three-match ODI series is also expected to be a keenly contested one — if weather permits a good start. The city has been lashed by heavy rains since Friday night and the weatherman has predicted light to heavy showers for Sunday.
But if the weather paves way for good cricket, the day match between Indian and Pakistan could well set the tone for the series. Like the Twenty20s, the ODIs will also test Indian batting against Pakistan’s bowling.
But problems are galore for the Indian batting. The opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir has struggled during the Test series against England and have looked out of sync.
India will have to rely on a good start as the middle-order is also not doing well off late. Virat Kohli has hit a rough patch despite being the highest run getter for India in both Tests and ODIs. While Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh are sure starters, it will be a toss up between Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane.
Rahane, however, has been in good touch during the Twenty20 series and looks to have an esdge over Sharma.
For India, the biggest positive remains the resurgence of Yuvraj. The southpaw once again showed his class in the last Twenty20 smashing a 36-ball 72, which included seven sixes.
On the bowling front, Ishant Sharma and Ashok Dinda will be sharing the new ball while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who made a dream T20 debut by grabbing 3/9, will be the third pacer. Local boy Ravichandran Ashwin will lead the spin attack.
For Pakistan, it will be the start of a new battle under new leader Misbah-ul-Haq. Misbah asked his boys not to get carried away by the impressive start in the series.
“It is a great start by our team but we need to be cautious and not get over-confident because there are still four matches left in the series and the Indian team will try to come back hard at us in these games,” Misbah said.
“Our team is always dangerous when it is on a winning streak and even before the series the players were very keen to do well in India as we are playing a bilateral series after five years,” he said.
Misbah was happy with the performance of the pacers.
Even before the series we were banking on our pacers to put pressure on the Indian batsmen and they succeeded in doing this in the first T20. I hope they continue in the same spirit and rhythm for the one-day series as well,” he said.
Misbah also indicated that former skipper Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi, who were not a part of the ODI squad, could be retained.
But it will be the presence of old warhorse Younis Khan that wil provide the much needed stability in the batting.
India, however, on their part will be looking to end the tough year with a win and start the new year on a positive note.
he teams:
Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (Capt), Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Anwar Ali, Zulfiqar Babar.
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shami Ahmed, Amit Mishra.
