 India after loosing the game against Bangladesh faces an uphill task of beating well settled Pakistan in the 5th Game of Asia Cup 2012 at Mirpur, Dhaka. India will play Pakistan after almost a year, last time they clashed in the semi final of World Cup which India won. But unlike their last battle – when it was a knockout for both the teams – it's a must-win match only for India as Pakistan have already booked a place in the final. A loss to Bangladesh in the last game put India in a must win game against Pakistan. Indian bowling looked really under pressure when Bangladesh batsmen started to counter against them. On the other hand Pakistan after win over host and Sri Lanka is almost secured their place in the Asia Cup Final. Indian batting looked in good touch in last two games and that’s why they were able to score 304 and 289 runs. However the main worry for Indians is their bowling as they conceded 85 runs in last 10 overs against Bangladesh. Vinay Kumar who sat out in the last game because of niggle might come back into the Playing XI in place of Ashok Dinida who looked all over the place during 5.4 over spell. Ravinder Jadeja also not performed well since last 20 games and this might tempt Dhoni to include Yusuf Pathan into the playing squad. Mohammad Hafeez, Naseer Jamshed, Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal have all scored a half-century each in the tournament so far. However, old guard Younis Khan has failed in both the matches so far. So Pakistan will be keen that their experienced No. 3 rises to the occasion and strikes form in this big clash. A win for India against Pakistan will shut the door for Sri Lanka and almost guarantee the berth for India in the Final. But a loss for India will leave India, Sri Lanka (if Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh in their last game), Bangladesh on 4 points then net run rate will decide which team will go through in the Final. Likely Playing XI for both teams (Match is schedule to begin at 13:30 PM India Time) India Squad: Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, M.S.Dhoni (Captain & WK), Y.Pathan, Irfan Pathan, R Ashwin, P.Kumar, R.Vinay Kumar. Pakistan Squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal (WK), Misbah-ul-Haq (Captain), Asad Shafiq, Hammad Azam, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Aizaz Cheema. |
