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Colombo: Humiliated by Australia in their opening Super Eights match, a jittery India will have to pick up the pieces from their all-round failure and come up with an inspired performance against arch-rivals Pakistan in their do-or-die game in the World Twenty20 on Sunday.
The Indian team looked completely out of sorts against Australia and they now have to quickly address their woes in all departments of the game when they take on an upbeat Pakistan, who had beaten South Africa in a thriller, if they want to remain afloat in the tournament.
India's five bowler strategy was a big hit against England in the group match but in conducive conditions against Australia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's frontline spinners were hammered by Shane Watson-David Warner duo in Friday's match.
Dhoni blamed the short spell of drizzle before the start of the Australian innings as a reason for his bowlers' failure. But the fact that the entire bowling unit failed to put up a semblance of a fight came as a surprise.
Pakistan are far superior players of spin bowling and consistency has never been Chawla's forte as he is primarily a rhythm bowler. On their day, the likes of Imran Nazir, Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez can take Chawla to the cleaners --- something Dhoni can't afford at this juncture of the tournament.
The Indian team also has their share of batting worries and it will be interesting to know whether Dhoni will persist with Irfan Pathan as the makeshift opener and keep Virender Sehwag out of the equation.
Dhoni incidentally said at the post match press conference that "it was very difficult to justify why Sehwag was dropped".
However, there are serious questions that need to be asked about Yuvraj Singh's inclusion in the team.
Pakistan, on the other hand, would look to put up an improved batting performance as it was due to sheer brilliance of Umar Gul that they were able to beat South Africa after being 76 for seven at one stage.
Skipper Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal are automatic choices, there is a chance that Pakistan may play Mohammad Sami who, with his raw pace, can be a bit of an enforcer.
The only problem for Pakistan has been Afridi's sharp dip in form with the willow which at times does hamper Pakistan's batting prospects.
A lot will also depend on Pakistan's most talented young batsman Umar Akmal who on his day can take apart any bowling attack in the world.
Teams from
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Ravichandran Ashwin, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Yuvraj Singh.
Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez (captain), Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal (wk), Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Nasir Jamshed, Saeed Ajmal, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Yasir Arafat, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Sami, Asad Shafiq, Raza Hasan.
Pitch and conditions
Conditions at the R Premadasa Stadium now present an interesting dilemma. However, with the ever-present threat of the rain you also want to exploit the Duckworth-Lewis anomaly and avoid the wet outfield.
Stats and trivia
Match facts
Sunday September 30, 2012 (day/night)
Start time 1930 local (1400 GMT, 7:30pm IST, 7pm Pak)
