ICC World T20: How prepared is Team India to take on Pakistan?

Bangladesh: India and Pakistan walk into the 5th edition of ICC World T20 following the Asia Cup. There are quite a few changes in both the teams that played in the Asia Cup. For Pakistan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Fawad Alam are replaced by Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik. For India, Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayudu have made way for Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni.

In the warm-up games, both India and Pakistan have won and lost one game respectively. While India fell short 5 runs while chasing 153 in their first warm-up game, they comprehensively beat England in their second practice game. Pakistan, on the other hand won their first game beating New Zealand. But in the second warm-up game, South Africa dismissed them for a paltry score of 71. The warm-up games don’t have any impact on the points table. But the winning momentum, although less important in T20 cricket, is on India's side.

Both these teams have won ICC World T20 once respectively; India in the inaugural edition in 2007 and Pakistan the second edition in 2009. But Pakistan’s overall record in ICC World T20 is more impressive than India’s. Pakistan have played in 4 semi-finals in as many attempts while qualifying for the finals twice. India, on the other hand, are yet to make it to the semi-final after winning the 2007 ICC T20 World Championship.

What works in India’s favour though, is their record against Pakistan in ICC World T20. India have played against Pakistan 3 times and won on every occasion. And while their overall record is not too noteworthy, this win-loss ratio against Pakistan would give them a lot of confidence.

For India, their batting will remain their strength. Kohli, who has been growing by leaps and bounds, will be the mainstay of India's batting. Raina too has batted well in the warm-up games. Although Dhawan has not contributed much in the warm-up games, he has shown a tendency to learn from his mistakes and immediate improvements. Hence, Dhoni would not be too worried about Dhawan’s batting form.

There are suggestions to push Rohit Sharma down the order and open the innings with Rahane. But that could only happen if Yuvraj is excluded from the playing XI. But that's an unlikely scenario considering as Yuvraj can roll his arm over which Rahane in not known to do yet.

Dhoni’s comeback makes India’s middle order stable; He did not bat in the first warm-up game, but when he did in the second, he did not look too flustered.

Unlike,India’s batting, India’s pace attack is a cause of concern for quite some time. Both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami were expensive in both the opening games. So, Dhoni may chop and change the pace bowling combination by opting for Aaron’s extra pace.

The Indian spin attack, if compared with India's pace bowling unit looks more settled and assured. Jadeja and Ashwin are certainties in the playing XI. And if India decide to include Rohit and Yuvraj, Amit Mishra,a front-line spinner will have to warm the bench.

Like it happened before, this India-Pakistan tie will be a high pressure game. While Pakistan would want to change their record in ICC World T20 against India, India would be making sure that they start off their campaign with a win and maintain the upper hand over Pakistan in ICC World T2O.