NEW DELHI: Pakistan will play bitter rivals India in a Champions Trophy thriller on Sunday in front of a sold-out crowd in Dubai knowing that another loss would all but end their championship defense.
Due to political sensitivities, the neighbors only clash in multi-nation events. This match is being played in Dubai after India declined to travel to Pakistan, the tournament’s host nation.
Pakistan will be under pressure in front of an anticipated full house at the 25,000-seat Dubai International Stadium, with hundreds of millions more people riveted to their TVs.
Realistically, Mohammad Rizwan‘s team needs to defeat favorites India in order to go to the semi-finals of the eight-nation event after losing badly to New Zealand by 60 runs in the first match of the ODI competition in Karachi.
On a higher run-rate, New Zealand leads Group A ahead of India, who defeated Bangladesh by six wickets on Thursday. Pakistan sits at the bottom of the group, in fourth place.
The semi-finals will be played by the top two teams in each of the two groups.
“If we want to win against the great teams of the world and be one of the great teams of the world we will have to bring consistency,” Pakistan batsman Salman Ali Agha said.
“We can’t play well in one game and bad in another.”
Last week in a tri-nation event at home, Pakistan lost to New Zealand in the final, crashing to 242 all out after chasing down a record 353 against South Africa.
Their top batsman, Fakhar Zaman, sustained a muscular injury on Wednesday, which dealt them a serious blow in the defeat. He has been ruled out of the tournament.
Imam-ul-Haq came in as replacement for a team that hammered India in the final of the previous Champions Trophy, in 2017.
Since that last ODI loss to Pakistan, Rohit Sharma’s team has defeated their fiercest opponents five times in a row, with one match being rained off.
The last time they played each other, India won by seven wickets in a one-day match at the 2023 World Cup in Ahmedabad.
The tournament, Pakistan’s first ICC event since co-hosting the 1996 World Cup with India and Sri Lanka, would be ruined by another defeat and an early exit for the hosts.
India, on the other hand, played up to their reputation as favorites when they defeated Bangladesh in Dubai, chasing down a challenging 229 with 21 balls remaining.
Following the return of bowling stats of 5-53 from pace spearhead Mohammed Shami, in-form Shubman Gill scored an undefeated 101 for his second consecutive ODI century.
India would be on the verge of the final four if they win against Pakistan.
“After winning there is no point in having a mindset,” a confident-looking Shami said in response to a question on facing Pakistan next.
“You should stay in the same frame (habit) when you win a match and when you perform well. I don’t think you need to think too much about the ICC tournament or any international match.”
The same confidence was displayed by fellow pace bowler Harshit Rana, who took three wickets in his team’s victory.
“It’s great to perform ahead of the Pakistan match and hopefully I can take this momentum forward,” said Rana. “But the Pakistan match is just another game for us.”
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