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Dhaka: Battered and bruised in the first quarter of 2014, India will aim to take fresh guard when they open their World Twenty20 campaign against traditional foes Pakistan on Friday in what promises to be a cracker of a contest.
While form favours Pakistan even though they were battered by South Africa in a warm-up game on Wednesday, history would be on India's side as they have never lost to their arch-rivals on all three meetings of the previous editions of World T20.
The Pakistan national team has played more T20 Internationals than its Indian counterparts, who last played an official T20 International against Australia in October last year.
There will be some great inner battle within the main contest. Shahid Afridi's pyrotechnics against Ravichandran Ashwin's variations, Umar Gul's pace against Virat Kohli's bravado, Saeed Ajmal's guile against Mahendra Singh Dhoni's flair.
But then, cricket is a fickle game and India have not had a great run this year so far. Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side has won only two international matches this year having beaten Bangladesh and Afghanistan in the Asia Cup last month.
They have lost to all major teams like South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
They even lost to Sri Lanka in the first warm-up game before beating England convincingly by 20 runs in the final warm-up tie to somewhat redeem themselves.
It is impossible to think that Afridi's last-over exploits wouldn't play on the Indian cricketers' minds ahead of the game although the format is completely different.
There would be immense pressure on both sides and one can expect a full house at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium as people are going crazy for the tickets of the match.
Pakistan were all-out for 71 in their last warm-up game against South Africa but that had more to do with trying to test the batsmen by changing the order.
While Ahmed Shehzad, skipper Hafeez, and the Akmal brothers -- Kamran and Umar -- will be itching to have a go at India, the two fear factors for Dhoni's men will be none other than Afridi and Ajmal.
Ajmal's four overs with the kind of variations he possesses can create a lot of trouble for Indian batsmen. Afridi on the other hand can change the complexion of the game with both bat and ball.
In Umar Gul and Sohail Tanveer, they have a more than capable right-left bowling combination, who are never easy to get away.
Teams from:
India - Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt. & wk), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami and Mohit Sharma.
Pakistan - Mohammad Hafeez (Capt.), Ahmed Shehzad, Bilawal Bhatti, Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Talha, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul and Zulfiqar Babar.
Stats & trivia
India never lost against Pakitan in World Cup (ODI & T20)
India won all three meetings of the previous editions of World T20 against Pakistan.
Match facts
Friday March 21, 2014 (day/night)
Start time 7.30pm local (0130 GMT, 7pm IST, 6pm PKT)
