Gul has already said that he will target the Indian top order. Indian batsmen should play him carefully and India should not lose early wickets.
Blunt Afridi and make him go wicketless, a scenario which Pak cannot face.
Let Zaheer damage the Pak top order. Give him an extended spell and let him take early wickets !
Pak have not faced much pressure during this WC. They are susceptible to pressure. The only pressure situation that they faced, were when they were 45/5. They succumbed to pressure that day.
India on the other hand have come out of many pressure situations. The two teams have not played each other for more than two years. After 2008, India has grown by leaps and bounds. India has zoomed to be the No 2 ODI team in the world, due to ICC Rankings, while Pak is sixth. Indian batting is superior, with five centuries in this WC. No Paki has ever score a century. Pak has a slight edge in bowling, but this should be blunted carefully by the Indian batsmen !
Pakis are saying that India is under more pressure because of the high expectancy of her fans. Since both teams are two matches away from the WC, pressure on both is the same. Even though Pak is not playing before home crowd, millions of Pakis are watching the match on TV, like Indians ! So saying that India is under more pressure is sheer nonsense.
India has won four WC matches in a row and is looking for the fifth win. This shows that the Indian team can better handle WC pressure than their neighbours. History has an uncanny knack of repeating itself ! So all the verbal challenges thrown by Pakis are nothing but dogs barking and barking dogs seldom bite ! No Indian player has
retaliated.
Kumble opined that those who can win the Mind can win. Mano Jaya Eva maha jaya - The noblest conquest is the conquest of Mind. He said that India has defeated more powerful Pak teams. In 2003, they had Waqar, Wasim, Shoaib at his best, Saeed Anwar and Saleem Malik and yet India defeated them !
India are 6/4 favourites, Pak 4/1, SL 8/13.
Shastri says he is concerned about the Dew Factor. Now that it had rained on Tuesday at Mohali, dew will be there after the 35th over in the second innings. After 85 overs, the bowlers will find it difficult to grip the ball. The chasing team has a huge advantage. Normally it happens afte 0800 PM and the match continues till 1030 PM. So it may be a good toss to lose !
The Castrol Predictor gives 52% chance to India and 48% to Pak. Why ? Because both Indian bowling and Pak batting are good for nothing !
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