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Saturday 14th June 2008

India vs Pakistan - Kitply Cup Final, Mirpur

The final that time will forget...and not because we can't pronounce it.

After embarrassingly comprehensive victories against Pakistan and Bangladesh in the past few days, a buoyant Indian side face a Pakistani team lacking
team unity and cohesion.

In previous years, Pakistan may have conjured up a match-winning performance from the likes of Shahid Afridi or Shoaib Akhtar, but at present there is nobody that their captain Shoaib Malik can turn to and rely on for wickets or quick runs. Against other teams, the hugely impressive Sohail Tanvir - mark my words, he will be an all-time great - would be able to turn a match at the death with his incisive and often unplayable reverse swinging yorkers. However, having already exhausted all his variety against the Indian batsmen in the Indian Premier League, there is not much of a surprise factor any more.

Pakistan have a reasonable line-up on paper, but on recent form, the likes of Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik have not played enough match-winning knocks between them, and
the bowling continues to haemorrhage extras and is inconsistent at the best of times.

The fact that Pakistan Cricket Board's supremo Nasim Ashraf sent a damning email to team management after the 190 run loss to India emphasises that the Pakistanis are in a state of disarray. Shoaib Malik does not seem to inspire confidence as a captain either, looking absolutely hapless at times during India 's innings in the last match. To put it bluntly, he needs to stop dithering and start leading from the front.

On the other hand, India has an embarrassment of riches at their disposal, in all departments. The batting is something to drool over, with the likes of Yuvraj and the hugely impressive Rohit Sharma in the middle order. If required, the lower order of Dhoni, Pathan and Chawla will see them through tough times. Gambhir and Sehwag hold the key for me, and in my humble opinion, they are the best opening partnership in the world right now, and have the potential to go down in history with the likes of Greenidge / Haynes and Gilchrist / Hayden.

After a stop-start international career, Gambhir has blossomed with the evolution of Twenty20, ending up as leading run-scorer in the T20 World Cup last year, and second
leading run-scorer in the inaugural IPL. Arguably the most improved batsman in the world in the past 12 months, Gambhir has managed to play aggressive cricket from the start of the innings, coming down the track and striking the ball through extra cover. We all know what Sehwag is capable of, but he finally seems to have found the perfect opening foil. Their impressive running between the wickets is also notable and it is seemingly impossible to break the partnership if they get on a roll, as Pakistan found out to their peril as the combo piled on a 155 run opening partnership.

India 's bowling is relatively inexperienced, with the likes of Ishant Sharma, Piyush Chawla and Praveen Kumar just starting on the international trail, but they have been hugely impressive both in terms of economy and wicket-taking potential. The fifth bowler option of Yusuf Pathan / Sehwag / Yuvraj remains a concern against better opposition, but should be fine for the time being with some incisive opening bowling up front. On current form, India is the best ODI team in the world and it must be noted that this team has the luxury of competing to a high standard without the likes of Tendulkar and Harbhajan (injury and suspension respectively). Ganguly, Laxman, Dravid and Kumble have all fallen by the wayside over the past twelve months, and have surprisingly not been missed at all.

Post IPL, it seems that the world is getting nauseous at the notion of fifty over cricket. A meaningless tournament on the subcontinent - is it pronounced 'The DLF Maximum Cup'? - is not going to whet the appetite after the 'Citi moment of success' that was the IPL (note to self: must endeavour to not be brainwashed into submission by not-so-subliminal advertising). I do not expect the result of this final to make the back pages...but it doesn't mean that we shouldn't fill our boots.

India is the value play here and we will continue to back them with confidence over the coming months.

NJ's recommendation: Back India 4pts @ 1.6 Betfair.com