India-Pakistan clash in high-voltage ICC World T20 clash tomorrow
Winning their first match against Bangladesh beside playing and practising at a stretch for a week at Eden Gardens will definitely give an added psychological advantage to visiting Pakistan when India host the Shahid Afridi side in the crucial Super 10 Group 2 match.
The sprawling green Eden pitch is the happy hunting ground for Pakistan cricket team as they never lost a match to India here.
Pakistan have played 4 matches against the host at Eden Gardens, and won all the time..
After arriving here last Saturday, Shahid Afridi side he has been using the ground for regular net practice and matches under the constant vigil of the commandos.
They already beating 2014 winners Sri-Lanka in an warm up play easily and then defeating Bangladesh in Group match on March 16, Pakistan team is currently in a strong form.
Thirty-six-year-old all-rounder Afridi won hearts of Indian fans by saying that he was loved and respected most in India than any other parts of the globe and then he scored a quickfire 19-ball-49-run (4x4 and 6x4) and took two wickets conceding 27 runs to guide his team to victory against Bangladesh, who beat them in last Asia Cup at Mirpur in Dhaka.
Afridi lauded his front-liner batsmen saying they built the foundation by scoring 201 in 20 overs against strong bowling side of Bangladesh.
He said his bowlers - speed-stars Muhammad Amir, Md Irfan, Md Sami, Md Riaz-
and spinners like him and Wasim, have the capability to restrict the opponents from scoring a big total.
For India they have never lost to Pakistan in the ICC sponsored T20 and 50-over ODI matches and recently MS Dhoni-led side regained top slot in T20 ICC ranking after winning Asia Cup in Bangladesh.
India and Pakistan played 10 times each other in World Cup tournaments and India won all the 10 matches.
Theoretically, India are strongest claimant of this ICC World T20 2016 tournament but their defeat in the opener against Kiwis gave a big jolt to the pride and may be a lesson to be learnt before taking the arch rivals at Eden.
Winners of the first edition of 2007, India recently defeated Australia 3-0, Sri Lanka (3-1) before winning the Asia Cup in the neighbourhood country.
In Bangladesh,India also beat Pakistan by bowling them out at Mirpur for a paltry 83 runs.
While batsmen like Shikhar Dawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli Yuvraj Singh, and Dhoni are in form, bowlers Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ashish Nehra have the capability to win the matches.
Before the play start matinee idol Amitabh Bachchan and Pakistan's classical singer Safaqat Amanat Ali will render national anthem for India and Pakistan respectively.
Play begins at 7:30 pm (IST).
Squads (From):
India:
MS Dhoni (captain and wicketkeeper), Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma,
Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik
Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish
Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Pawan Negi, Mohammed Shami.
Pakistan:
Shahid Afridi (capt), Ahmed Shehzad, Anwar Ali, Imad Wasim, Khalid
Latif, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Sami,
Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Umar
Akmal, Wahab Riaz
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