India – Pakistan match, that too in World Cup semi-finals, is more than one can ask for. Of course, if they meet in the finals sometime in the future, the whole Cricket scenario will go berserk! Till now, the series is turning out to be a definitive sub-continent tournament.
Both the teams have so far proved their mettle. India scores the highest in batting momentum with 380 points (Pakistan has 254 points) and Pakistan ranks top in bowling efficiency with 246 points (India has 188 points). The quarter finals were a breeze for Pakistan due to the poor show by West Indies – just 112 runs in a World Cup match is nothing short of a disaster. Pakistan won the match by 10 wickets. On the same note, India’s 5-wickets win against Australia was exhilarating! They beat the 4 times World Cup winners with full élan.
Coming back to the upcoming match, let’s measure the odds first, before we can even try to predict the results. Some of the players who are in their performing best are: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Shahid Afridi, Zaheer Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umar Gul, Umar Akmal, Suresh Raina, Asad Shafiq, and Mohammad Hafeez.
Considering the match being in Mohali, it will favour both batsmen and the bowlers. But looking at the statistics, Pak batting line-up hasn’t been very effective and they have crumbled against high chases. With bowlers like Zaheer and Ashwin, we can definitely look at limiting them to less than 250. Well, if they bowl first, Indians can be in a bit of a strain. As history goes, Indian team has won more matches if they chase. Thus looking at all the odds, they will be in a better position if they bowl first and set a convenient target for their batsmen to chase.
Even though I might be a bit biased for the results, a ‘60 : 40’ chance for ‘India : Pakistan’ seems to be the current prediction. The contenders have a monumental history of rivalry and winning the semi-final will be nothing short of the Clash of the Titans!
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