ICC CWC STREAMING: 2nd SF, IND vs PAK
Everything will be at stake when India and Pakistan play the second semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup on Wednesday.
Cricklanka.com will be showing ALL the games of the tournament LIVE and in full. There's now no excuse to miss a minute's action thanks to http://www.cricklanka.com/p/cricket-live-streaming.html - ENJOY!MATCH PREVIEW
No clear favourites
By Prateek Srivastava in Mohali
There will be no David or Goliath in the match. The past encounters between the teams suggest that reputation and experience will count for nothing and that every player will be under tremendous pressure with uncompromising and unforgiving fans on both sides. A good performance here can make one part of the folklore while a failure will be as good as sending somebody to the gallows. Never before was a player so conscious of the sword of Damocles.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni understands the magnitude of the occasion and speaks like a sage.
“There is hype, there is hysteria but we are not getting involved in it and that’s what is important. One thing you know about the hype is that thinking about it won’t help your performance and what doesn’t help your performance should be kept out. We have been preparing well, let us see how it goes,” Dhoni said during a press conference on the eve of the match.
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, who is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 21 wickets, admitted that the Indians are the favourites going into the match. But despite that he believes he has got a great team which is capable of taking anyone to the cleaners.
“We have played above expectations so far. We've been through a tough time for the last seven or eight months but now we are playing like a unit. India are the favourites but we are pretty confident about our game. This World Cup matters a lot to us and we will try our best to rekindle the interest in the game back home,” the spinning all-rounder said.
India’s record against Pakistan is very impressive in the tournament: they have never lost to their arch-rivals. However when it comes to overall head-to-head, Pakistan by far has been the best side, winning 69 out of 119 matches.
Many cricket pundits believe the match is actually between India’s batting and Pakistan’s bowling. The pitch at the Punjab Cricket Association has always been partial to batsmen and the curator Daljit Singh has given no sign as yet that it would be any different this time.
As far as team composition is concerned, India are likely to field the same team that knocked the Australians out while Pakistan are unsure whether to go in with injury-prone Shoaib Akhtar.
Both teams have been great rivals over the years. Nothing is going to change on Wednesday, no matter how much people talk about cricket being a medium to thaw the relationship between the star-crossed neighbours. You can count me upon that!
India and Pakistan - World Cup 2011
- Sachin Tendulkar (2389) requires just 15 runs to become the leading run-getter in India-Pakistan ODIs. Inzamam-ul-Haq (2403) is the top run-scorer at present.
- Virender Sehwag (998) needs two runs to complete his 1000 runs against Pakistan in ODIs.
- Mahendra Singh Dhoni (976) requires 24 runs to complete his 1000 runs against Pakistan in ODIs.
- In case of a hundred, Sachin (99) would become the first batsman to complete 100 international centuries.
- Sachin, in case of a century, would become the first to register six hundreds in India-Pakistan ODIs. At present, he shares the record with Salman Butt. Both have registered five hundreds each.
- Sachin and Brian Lara share a record for most hundreds (5) against Pakistan in ODIs. In case of his 100th international hundred, he would become the first to post six hundreds against Pakistan.
- Sachin (6873), in case of 127 runs, would become the first to aggregate 7000 runs at home.
- Kamran Akmal (2905) needs 95 runs to complete his 3000 runs in ODIs.
- Misbah-ul-Haq (1949) requires 51 runs to complete his 2,000 runs in ODIs.
- Afridi is all set to establish two important bowling records. With just one wicket, he would take his tally to 22 and to overtake Waqar Younis' tally of 21 at 17.47 runs apiece in eight games in the Mandela Trophy in South Africa in 1994-95 - the previous Pakistan record for most wickets in a competition.
- Afridi, with only two wickets, would set a bowling record for most wickets by a captain in a competition/series. Greg Chappell had captured 22 wickets at 17.04 runs apiece in fourteen matches in the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup in Australia in 1980-81.
- Dhoni (5933) requires 67 runs to complete his 6,000 runs in ODIs.
- Gambhir (3949) needs 51 runs to complete his 4,000 runs in ODIs.
- Virat Kohli (1910) needs 90 runs to complete his 2,000 runs in ODIs.
India vs Pakistan in ODIs/World Cup
ODIs
India have won 46 and lost 69 out of 119 contested against Pakistan (NR 4). Pakistan's winning % of 60.00 is far better than India (40.00)
India have lost both the games against Pakistan at Mohali - by 7 wickets in the Pepsi Cup on April 1, 1999 and by four wickets on November 8, 2007.
World Cup
India enjoy 100% winning record against Pakistan at the World Cup, having won all four.
Overall - World Cup
India have won 37 and lost 26 out of 65 contested - winning % 58.59 (NR 1 and Tied 1)
Pakistan's success % is slightly better than India at the World Cup - Won 36 and lost 25 out of 63 played (NR 2) 59.01.
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