Skipper Rohit Sharma makes a point in a team huddle ahead of India's practice session on the eve of their Champions Trophy match against Pakistan in Dubai on Saturday.
Credit: PTI Photo
Dubai: India vs Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates comes with a kaleidoscope of indelible memories. India’s stunning defence of 125 in 1985. Javed Miandad’s winning last-ball six off Chetan Sharma the following year. Aaqib Javed’s hat-trick of leg befores in 1991. Mohammad Azharuddin’s last-over takedown of Ata-ur-Rehman in 1996.
Of more recent vintage is Shaheen Shah Afridi’s dismissals of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul within 13 deliveries of the start of the T20 World Cup league match in October 2021. The current skipper was trapped in front off the first ball he faced, his then opening partner was bowled through the gate in the next over, both to full, inswinging deliveries that once used to be the trademark of the strapping left-arm quick.
Afridi has since fallen on troubled times. He was appointed to and then stripped of the captaincy in another of those topsy-turvy developments that are such an integral part of Pakistan cricket, while his bowling hasn’t quite been as incisive either. Despite being ranked No. 3 in the world, Pakistan haven’t inspired the confidence in their fans that they have the resources to go all the way, a myth (they hope) they can explode on Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in their blockbuster Champions Trophy showdown against Rohit’s outfit.
Pakistan will have pleasant memories of their last Champions Trophy faceoff against India, in the final of the 2017 edition. Riding on Virat Kohli’s decision to field on a belter and on Fakhar Zaman’s stroke-filled 114, they buried India under an avalanche of runs, overturning a heavy loss in the league stage with a 180-run victory in the match that mattered. But their delight at that memory will be tempered by the realisation that Fakhar won’t be available for the rest of the tournament, courtesy the abdominal injury sustained on Wednesday in the loss to New Zealand.
That 60-run defeat has pushed Pakistan into a deep, wide hole. It has made victory non-negotiable on Sunday, because two losses out of two will mean the defending champions’ hold on the title will hang by the slenderest of threads. They can ill afford to not turn up because they know that even when they are fully switched on, India will be more than a handful. If they are at less than their best, well…
India received a wake-up call of sorts against Bangladesh on Thursday in a match they made difficult for themselves, thanks to their generosity in the field. Even though the DICS surface was expected to be on the slower side, India must have been surprised by how slowly it played under lights. Bangladesh’s stirring recovery from 35 for five to 228 meant India had a fight on their hands in conditions that were right up their eastern neighbours’ sleeve. Had it not been for the early aggression from Rohit and the maturity and composure of Shubman Gill, who made the downward switch through the gears without allowing the required rate to mount alarmingly, India could so easily have been forced to press the panic button.
Gill’s adaptability was one of the standout features, apart from Mohammed Shami’s spectacular return to big-ticket action, of the six-wicket win. The vice-captain was unflustered when he was forced to rein in his natural aggression; his 125-ball century was the slowest ODI ton by an Indian batter since 2019, but it was quite the need of the hour because of the game situation. Clearly, there is more than one reason why he is ranked the No. 1 batter in the ODI ecosystem.
A former No. 1 ODI batter will be seized of the need to start pulling his weight. Kohli has been Pakistan’s bugbear numerous times in the past. If he can invoke the spirit of that Kohli and shed a sustained lean trot, his travails in Australia will be forgiven. And forgotten. Post haste.