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Dhaka: Driven into a corner after their defeat to Sri Lanka, India will look to regroup quickly and plug their loopholes as they go into the make or break match against arch-rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup on Sunday.
With back-to-back victories over Pakistan and India, Sri Lanka have virtually assured themselves of a berth in the final of the Asia Cup, and now it's a two-way battle between the traditional rivals to be the other finalists in the five-nation tournament.
Both teams go into the match on an even keel, a win and one loss each, but the defending champions Pakistan have a slight edge as they have a bonus point in their kitty from their win against associate nation Afghanistan.
India registered a facile victory over hosts Bangladesh in their tournament opener but went down to Sri Lanka by two wickets on Friday. Pakistan were also beaten by a narrow 12-run margin by the same opponents in their opening match of the Asia Cup.
For India, it was Virat Kohli's sparkling century that did the job against Bangladesh, while for Pakistan Umar Akmal's timely ton saved them from what could have been an embarrassing loss to Afghanistan.
But the sheer importance of the contest will mean that the past records will have little relevance as the two teams look to renew their rivalry and take some brownie points.
A new look middle order's lack of execution would be a concern for the Indian team and the team management might think of including Cheteshwar Pujara to bring in some solidity.
Failure of Ambati Rayudu (18), Dinesh Karthik (4) and Stuart Binny (0) hurt India badly as Sri Lanka restricted them to 264 for nine.
With Shikhar Dhawan (94) and Kohli (48) giving India the top order push, India were on course for a 300-plus total but with the middle order collapse, the target proved insufficient in the end.
In bowling, too, India missed a third spinner to back Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin in the death overs, something Sri Lanka did wisely with Ajantha Mendis inclusion.
India would also look to improve their fielding, especially after four dropped catches and one missed stumping against Sri Lanka.
India missed a stumping chance against veteran Kumar Sangakkara, who showed the way with a breathtaking 84-ball 103 as Sri Lanka recovered from a middle-order batting collapse to pull off a thrilling two-wicket victory on Friday. Sangakkara was let off on 30.
Pakistan, too, face similar batting woes and the onus would be on skipper Misbah-ul-Haq to start fresh after his farcical run out without even facing a ball.
Number three batsman, Mohammad Hafeez's form will also prove to be crucial in a tense match like this, as also the match-winning allrounder Shahid Afridi, who continues to play mindless cricket.
It is their bowling spearheaded, Umar Gul and left-arm pacer Junaid Khan who would be relied upon heavily. But their spin department also has enough resources with the trio of Saeed Ajmal, Hafeez and Afridi to challenge the Indian batsmen.
After five matches in Fatullah, the action now shifts to country's premier venue -- Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium -- here and both the teams will be watchful about the nature of the pitch.
Teams from:
India: Virat Kohli (capt.), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Stuart Binny, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Cheteshwar Pujara, Amit Mishra, Varun Aaron and Ishwar Pandey.
Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt.), Sharjeel Khan, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Akmal (wk), Shahid Afridi, Anwar Ali, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Talha, Abdur Rehman, Fawad Alam.
Match facts
Sunday March 2, 2014 (day/night)
Start time 1400 local (0800 GMT, 13.30 IST, 13.00 PKT)
