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Centurion: More than six years down the line, the focus again shifts to Sachin Tendulkar as India play the marquee match of this Champions Trophy against Pakistan at the Supersport Park here on Saturday.
It was in March 2003 that Tendulkar’s brilliant 98 in the Pool A World Cup game against Pakistan fashioned a memorable victory and little seems to have changed in the interim.
India have had a long time to gear themselves up for this game but the fear factor Tendulkar exudes will be the key given the missing personnel, general disenchantment with the dossier leak and the ho-hum show in the warm-up game.
Pakistan, too, are quietly hoping to consolidate their rebuilding phase by getting their performance up a notch. The anticipation doesn’t quite match the frenetic levels of the last encounter here but the snappy format of the Champions Trophy means this is where the jokes end and the jibes begin.
This is the first Indo-Pak One-dayer since Jaipur in November 2007 and there are no comfort zones on neutral territory. The fact that Pakistan skipper Younis Khan is taking the field in spite of a broken finger shows the intensity with which his team would like to approach this game.
Pakistan have been boosted by the presence of youngsters like Umar Akmal and Muhammad Aamir and this is just the kind of occasion they need to stake their claim. As Younis inimitably said, "This is always a pressure game but I am lucky to have these youngsters. I don’t put any pressure on them. They have no fear, no depression. All the depression is for experienced guys like me."
India, though, are not so gung-ho about their new arrivals. Pakistan’s formidable bowling prowess puts pressure on a batting line-up sans Virender Sehwag and now Yuvraj Singh, necessitating last-minute changes of plan. Back-to-back games are being played in Centurion and the dry conditions prompted the hosts to go in with two spinners in both their games here.
India, so dependant on Yuvraj’s part-time bowling skills, do not have the luxury of playing five bowlers. So, a likelier scenario could be Dinesh Karthik/Virat Kohli beefing up the lower middle and batting allrounders Yusuf Pathan and Suresh Raina chipping in to fill the fifth bowler’s quota. Given Zaheer’s absence and the wayward performance of the medium-pacers in the warm-up, Dhoni’s options, though, might run out.
India will be hoping Tendulkar can reprise the form he displayed here in 2003 but Yuvraj’s absence means the onus is on Dravid to play the sheet anchor while Dhoni reclaims the aggressor role he hasn’t been so comfortable with in the recent past.
