ICC Champions Trophy 2017: India have an edge over Pakistan
With the stage set, come Sunday, all eyes of the cricketing world will descend upon Edgbaston, Birmingham. As the defending champions, India take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening match of Champions Trophy 2017, a battle of herculean proportions is on the cards.
While India walk out as the defending champions, Pakistan have had the upper hand in the head-to-head exchanges in this tournament and hold a 2-1 record. Contrary to the popular perception of India holding an edge over their neighbours in world events, it was only in 2013 that the 'Men in Blue' managed to register their sole win against Pakistan in this event.
If we analyse both teams closely, India undoubtedly appear a more experienced side. If Pakistan have a potential lethal pace attack, India have an adept batting order.
At the outset, the Virat Kohli-led side will have to pick out the best possible opening combination from the options on offer - Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane. On the basis of near-term performances, the skipper might be tempted to pick Dhawan over Rahane as the latter failed to put up a substantial score in the warm-up games.
That said, Rohit Sharma hasn't had a great warm-up himself in England so far. He joined the team late and then faced only three balls in his solitary outing against Bangladesh. Kohli, therefore, has a choice to make that could have a defining impact on the outcome of the encounter.
At number 3, Kohli will take the charge himself. He is a fine player and the whole batting effort will revolve around him. That said, Pakistan would have studied his IPL knocks and will sense an opportunity with the Indian skipper not having scored runs by the heap in IPL 2017.
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Meanwhile, Yuvraj Singh has not played in England since the World T20 in 2009. And to make matters worse for him, a viral fever prevented him from featuring in the practice matches. Lady luck, therefore, might just smile upon Dinesh Karthik. His 94 against Bangladesh comes on the back of a prolific domestic season. Hence, don't be surprised if he strides out to bat instead of the crowd favourite Yuvraj.
At number 5, Kedhar Jadhav will be an asset to the team with his proven batting abilities and more than handy skills as an off-spinner. He is a batsman who can double up as an all-rounder should the situation warrant it. And who can forget the great finisher that is MS Dhoni at number 6. While doubters might have found a voice in recent times, there's no denying the damage that Dhoni can do when the situation calls for it.
When you line up the two batting outfits, you can't help but feel that India have an edge over Pakistan. The Men in Blue have more batting experience while Pakistan lack the maturity they would have liked going into a world event such as this.
Ahmed Shehzad, their flamboyant opener, does have 78 ODI outings under his belt, but consistency has always been a challenge for him. Babar Azam has had a promising start but a world event will test him. The pressure, therefore, will be on Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik to do the bulk of the heavy lifting.
If the scales tilt towards India a tad bit when it comes to batting, the bowling department for both sides is as balanced as it can get. Pakistan's pace trio in Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan will be itching to unleash torpedoes on the Indian line up.
They will be all too familiar with the fact that since 2015, there have been very few Indian opening partnerships that have crossed the 100 mark. And they'll look to dismiss the top order cheaply and get to the middle-order sooner rather than later.
As for India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been at his best in recent times. And while Umesh Yadav impressed in the warm-up games, Jasprit Bumrah has been sensational in the death overs for quite a while. The race for the third seamer spot has never been hotter and it's a nice problem to have for Kohli. Ravi Ashwin and Jadeja will lend variety, accuracy and a lot more to the squad.
As the teams line up and the national anthems play, anticipation is bound to skyrocket. As for the players themselves, they will know all too well that this would come down to boardroom strategy and on-the-ground execution. The bowling units are evenly matched and India's batting line-up is the only aspect that will keep them from finishing on top.