Team India to kick-start title defence against Pak today

The atmosphere will be electric at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday for an epic battle, fit enough to be the final of any cricket tournament in the world, which will be fought on the very second day of the World Cup.

The India-Pakistan encounter is any cricket enthusiast’s must-watch game.
Hundreds of fans have already landed in the city to watch what is expected to be a thrilling bout between the two teams from the sub-continent. Players of both teams underwent a rigorous practice at the nets in an effort to make a match of it when they meet in front of the 40,000 strong crowd.

While Sunday is going to be the first match of the Cup for the two teams, pressure will be on both to win, though Pakistan has never won against India in the World Cup.
Pakistan, however, fancy their chances trying to take advantage of a recent poor run by the Indians who failed to win a match, either in Tests against Australia or in the tri-series that also included England, in the long tour down under.

Captain M S Dhoni is confident of his team’s performance. “What’s brilliant about this team is you don’t need to calm nerves. They’ve got a fair amount of experience, all of them. As regards Pakistan and our 5-0 lead over them, I won’t really care for numbers and statistics. Rather, I will give an opportunity to my players to raise their level of performance,” the skipper said at a press conference.

His Pakistan counterpart Misbah-ul-Haq said that it is an opportunity to create history.  “An India-Pakistan match is always all about pressure. The best thing we can do is just enjoy the game, enjoy the atmosphere, go there, be positive and play our natural game. That is the only way to handle pressure,” he said.