India calm, Pak excited before final
will be significant in terms of the match on Sunday. Irrespective of the teams, both batsmen and bowlers will have to eschew flamboyance and build a pace that will be ensuring solidity throughout the 100 overs.
Pakistan’s bowlers, particularly left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir is fit to play. He is perfectly capable of the banana swing, although the white ball hasn’t swung much in UK. But reverse swing and cutters will come into play and Hasan Ali, Pakistan’s ‘bombshell’ seamer, will be the man that India’s top order needs to handle.
India are unlikely to change the XI that hammered Proteas and Bangladesh. With a taped right knee, there is slight doubt on R Ashwin’s full fitness but India will need him against a team that has specialist lefthanded batsmen. If Ashwin is out, Umesh Yadav may be back.
Pakistan will be targeting India’s top three for sure. Although Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli have scored buckets of runs, they will treat the Pakistan attack with respect. Early wickets will expose the middle order which has not been tested. But Virat Kohli is nonchalant. “The middle order is waiting for an opportunity and guys like Hardik Pandya can produce that match-winning performance on a big day,” said the skipper.
In hindsight, the IPL seems to have done good to the Indian players. The entire team is used to playing pressure games and the squad looked in a comfort zone of another world final.
Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur said his players were “excited” for the final match and the mood is upbeat. “The loss against India was an aberration. We have trained hard and if we have beaten England, I am not surprised. The young team has no fear of losing and we are backing ourselves,” said the experienced South African coach.
India may be the form team but this Pakistan team is a galvanised lot under an intelligent captain Sarfraz Ahmed. The wicketkeeper batsman is unlike a boisterous Shahid Afridi and wants his team to do all the talking with its batting, bowling and fielding.