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Looking Ahead: Pakistan in India 2004-05: 3rd ODI
at Jamshedpur |
A Preview by
Venkat Ananth
 Just
two games into the ODI series, and we are in for
a crunch match. After India completed a
comprehensive 58 win over Pakistan at
Vishakhapatnam and put their noses in front in
the 6 match series, its now or never for
Pakistan. A must-win situation awaits us all, as
we move into the 3rd game of the Pepsi Cup at
Jamshedpur. The Keenan Stadium here is one of
those grounds, where the opposition has always
managed to put it against India and it will be
interesting to see if this stat still holds
true. Cricketfundas.com presents to its readers
an exclusive preview for the 3rd ODI between
India and Pakistan to be played at Jamshedpur.
Pitch:
The pitch at the Keenan stadium has always seen
high scoring games and this is a big indicator
of the strip that will be used for the game. The
captain winning the toss will in all likeliness
bat first, but there will be something in it for
the bowlers early on, for the first 10 overs or
so. The weather at Jamshedpur is not something
to write home about. The city is likely to see a
consistently hot weather throughout tomorrow and
yet again, it seems as though the heat will
basically define the game. Interestingly, the
stats are in favour of the team batting second,
who have won 5 out of the 8 earlier games played
here. Pakistan have won both their encounters in
Jamshedpur (against India and Sri Lanka), while
India broke the Keenan jinx against South Africa
in 2000-01. India lost their last ODI played
here against the West Indies in 2002-03.
India:
India will go into this game with their tails
up, and carrying the confidence from Vizag,
where they out-batted Pakistan. This is a
crucial game for India, with a view that if they
win this game, they at least do not lose the
series and can go all out for a win in the rest
of the matches. Jamshedpur has its own woes and
worries for the Indian team. The Men-in-Blue
have only won 1 out of their 7 last encounters
here and one hopes that they would be all set to
improve on their poor record here. India will go
into this match with their in-form batsmen
already creating havoc among the opposition
bowling. While Sehwag, Dravid and MS Dhoni have
literally toyed with the Pakistani bowlers, runs
beckon for the big guns like Sachin and Ganguly.
Sachin and Saurav should use this match to get
in some much-needed runs, that will do good to
the team for the rest of the matches. The middle
order also needs to respond, as their presence
could be crucial in the next few matches. The
Indians will be without the services of their
strike bowler L.Balaji for the next 2 games and
we could see them go with two in-form pacemen in
Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra in this match.
Murali Kartik might get a look-in along with
Harbhajan Singh and much in the middle overs
will depend on how they bowl. With the
non-regular bowlers going through a decent spell
of form, India might have just got the
combination right with a two seamer and two
spinner attack. India have nothing to lose in
this match, as they have already taken a 2-0
lead. But extending this lead will be of utmost
important for Sourav and co, if the Indians have
to win the series.
Pakistan:
All is not lost yet for Pakistan, who gave the
Indians a run for their money at Vizag, but the
sheer pressure of chasing 356 runs let the
visitors down. This game effectively presents
itself as a do-or-die or a must-win situation
for Pakistan, if they have to keep their hopes
alive of claiming the ODI series. Pakistan have
already announced their changes going into the
game tomorrow. Younis Khan is all set to return
back into the team, after a two-match absence
due to some health problems, Rao Ifthikar will
make his first appearance in the series, with
Mohammad Sami being rested and Arshad Khan makes
way for leg-spinner Danish Kaneria. The
Pakistani batting looks strong and resilient and
if only Inzamam was lucky with the coin toss,
the story might have just been different.
Pakistan will be bolstered by the return of
Younis Khan but yet, they may well have to plan
their innings well if they have to finish well.
The bowling line-up for Pakistan looks a bit
thin and may as well lack penetration with the
exclusion of Sami. But it presents an
opportunity to someone like Ifthikar Anjum, who
has been a passenger till now. It will be
interesting to see how Danish Kaneria performs
in the shorter version of the game and the
Pakistanis will be hoping to see him trouble the
batsman as much as he does in the Test matches.
All in all, the mantra for Pakistan to keep
themselves going will be "Now or Never", as a
loss could make the next three games meaningless
for them.
The Keenan Stadium, has witnessed some
unfortunate incidents the last time around and
it will be a big acid test for the security and
the police to see that such incidents of crowd
violence are not repeated and the game goes off
peacefully. The ball is in the Pakistani court,
but it is up to them to play it or leave it, and
whatever may be the outcome of the game, be
prepared for an absorbing contest.
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