The biggest match ever
India fight Pakistan for the Champions Trophy
Two cricketing powerhouses meet at the Kia Oval today and there will have been many television executives around the world reaching for a glass of bubbly when an India-Pakistan Champions Trophy final was confirmed. This will be one of the mostwatched cricket matches of all time because it is so rare these two countries play each other – and never before have they met in a final. Add in social media, and the audience for this final will be mindblowing. It is a great advert for the game.
I just hope they produce a match worthy of the occasion. It will be fascinating if Pakistan can hold their nerve against their rivals. If not, then we will have another walkover like when the sides met in the group stage, when India won with ease.
What makes it interesting is the completely different tactical approaches. Pakistan have the best bowling attack in the tournament, one that has extracted more life out of the white balls and pitches than any other team, while India’s batting is superstrong.
Hasan Ali has been the find of the tournament. He hits the seam nicely and finds any movement available. Junaid Khan and Mohammad Amir are quick, and capable of reversing the ball later in the innings when Pakistan are at their most dangerous. Amir is fit again and looking like he was before his fixing ban. What a stage for him to prove himself again.
India started the tournament confused by English conditions and thought seam was their strength so left out Ravi Ashwin. But these pitches are subcontinental in nature and India are stronger for having two spinners, Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, bowling in tandem. They are brilliant in the middle of the innings, whipping through their overs and squeezing opponents.
Jasprit Bumrah bowls yorkers better than anyone else in the world. He is bowling quickly – he was clocked at 90mph in the semi-final against Bangladesh – and can bowl a sharp bouncer. I like his competitive edge, and he has the know-how of bowling different variations.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar can extract life out of any pitch and has been the most consistent bowler in the tournament, all-rounder Hardik Pandya is an unknown quantity but has a few different deliveries, and third spinner Kedar Jadhav is a dark horse bowling those round-arm floaters that are not always easy to hit.
India’s batting line-up has prowess down to No9. That depth is match-winning. But in Pakistan’s favour, India’s top three have done the lion’s share of their batting so if they can produce a few magic deliveries and get India three down quickly they will be bowling to players who have not had as much time at the crease. Early wickets for Pakistan will make it very interesting.
If the final were at Cardiff or on a used pitch at Edgbaston, Pakistan would have a great chance.
But at the Oval the skiddy length that Amir and Rumman Raees hit will come on to the bat nicely. It is always very hard to get reverse swing at the Oval. England have found conventional swing there in the past but the balls in this tournament are not talking for the bowlers. The question will be whether Pakistan can get it reversing. If not, I fear for them. If Pakistan win the toss they will need to bowl first and chase a score down. They have not managed higher than 237 in the tournament, whereas scores of 305, 299 and 321 have been chased down at the Oval.
This is a fitting finale to a good tournament. I have not known a major tournament have as many upsets as this one. Sri Lanka beating India, Pakistan beating South Africa, Bangladesh chasing down 265 against New Zealand to reach the last four and England recovering from 35 for three to hammer the Aussies. Then the biggest upset of all, with Pakistan beating England. Is there one more? I don’t think so. India are a powerful team and the Oval suits them. They have played two games there already, while this will be Pakistan’s first of the tournament. India just seem always to have an edge over Pakistan when they play in global tournaments. Perhaps the emotion, expectation and pressure of the crowd and supporters back home gets to Pakistan, or perhaps it is because India are used to playing in high-pressure matches all the time. The Indian Premier League has been going for 10 years and has produced a generation of Indian cricketers brought up on the exposure and pressure of a big tournament. Pakistan have barely played at home since 2009. The Pakistan Super League is only two years old and their players are not allowed to play in the IPL. The cards are stacked in India’s favour.
The England players will feel awful watching today’s final. Joe Root was right: this was a golden chance. Who knows if they will come so close at the World Cup in two years’ time? A lot can happen between now and then. Apart from Chris Woakes, they had their first-choice players fit but once again lost their way in a big match, and that is a worry. In the World Twenty20 final last year they conceded 24 when defending 19, to lose the match. They should have won this tournament, or at least beaten Pakistan in the semi-final. At the World Twenty20 they started badly, were written off and developed an attitude that they were going to prove everyone wrong. I just hope that at Cardiff they did not start to feel sorry for themselves when they saw the pitch.
Somehow they need to recapture that attitude of proving us all wrong. It serves them well.
The audience will be mind-blowing for one of the most-watched matches of all time