Watch India vs Australia Live Match - Will it be Another High Scoring Match?

Handicapped by the poor form of some of their key bowlers, India will be under intense pressure as they go into the do-or-die sixth cricket one-dayer against an upbeat Australia on Wednesday, fully aware that any slip-up at this stage could cost them the series. Cricket lovers may have doubts over the fate of the sixth ODI between Indian and Australia, after back-to-back washouts at Ranchi and Cuttack. However, it seems players will get to sweat out at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur on Wednesday, with the weather expected to be dry and humid.

It is quite assured and assumed that there will be no rain pouring down in Nagpur. Only fours and sixes. The new Jamtha stadium is known for its flat pitches in ODIs. Of the six ODIs played here, first-innings totals in five have been more than 290. Netherlands scored 292 here against England, India failed to defend 296 once. Add to it the new regulations of two balls from each end, and only four fielders outside the circle probably it’s going to be another run feast.

Australia lead the series 2-1 and are just a win away from clinching the series. They will come into the Nagpur game with less pressure, as they will still have one more chance to win the series. However, pressure will build up if they loss the sixth ODI.

India, on the other hand, will come into contest, well aware of the fact that another loss would mean a series defeat. They need to win both the remaining games to avoid a series loss and it won't be easy, despite boasting a strong batting line-up.

The questions around the team combination remain the same since there wasn't a ball bowled in the previous ODI. Mohammed Shami and Jaydev Unadkat should retain their places, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar possibly replacing R Vinay Kumar.

The sixth ODI at Nagpur is expected to be a great contest with both teams having players with good form. They are expected to score big, like in the previous games, and no total seems to be too big for these teams, which has been the beauty of this series.

Watch India v Pakistan Live Streaming, 2nd Semi-final, World Cup 2011

Mercurial outsiders v solid favourites

March 29, 2011

Match Facts

March 30, Mohali
Start time 1430 hours (0900 GMT)

Shahid Afridi has been at the forefront of Pakistan's imperious turnaround from the spot-fixing crisis.

The Big Picture

Beyond the hype this contest can perhaps be best viewed through the prism of the two captains. Shahid Afridi is the passionate, exhibitionist leader who doesn't mind showing his emotions on the field. He will shout, cajole, plead, laugh, roar and feel every pulsating moment of the contest. It's exactly what this Pakistan team needs after all those controversies, someone who can remind them of the school-boyish joy that this game can provide.

MS Dhoni is the uber-cool captain and, while he can be vocal while dealing with the press, he is almost invisible on the field. Silent nods of appreciation, a quiet word in the ear, calm instructions, a shrug of the shoulder is all you will get from him. And again, it's what this star-heavy team needs. Someone who can be calm and remind them of the basics of the game.

Pakistan - who told their players they could be here in the semi-finals? - almost renews itself with each crisis. That's how it has been always: Controversies. Paralysis. Rebirth. Success. And more controversies. This was a big tournament for the survival of Misbah-ul-Haq, in the middle of a great comeback. In a sense, the spot-fixing saga and its sordid aftermath was actually a blessing in disguise since it paved the way for his return. For Younis Khan, too, survival instinct, as a batsman facing a dip in form before the tournament, would have helped in dealing with that crisis. Playing his last tournament, Shoaib Akhtar knew this was the time to let his game do the talking. And for that man Afridi, mentally almost perennially young, this was the best chance to dazzle on the biggest stage. He has taken that chance and led the team with great passion. Kamran Akmal lives and breathes in amnesia. Bad memories don't haunt him - who else could have recovered so well after that nightmarish effort against New Zealand?

And yet nothing much has changed with the way they play cricket on the field. It's still the bowlers who win the games for them. For all that is mercurial about them, Pakistan have lost just one game in this tournament.

India have occasionally limped, at times choked, sometimes dazzled, before beating Australia to reach to the semi-finals. The progress card has the bowlers in the red, the batsmen guilty of not finishing the job, and the fielding has always been almost beyond redemption. Their mode of progress should actually have freed them up in some ways. The batsmen must have realised that they can't try too hard to cover up for their bowlers' weakness, by trying to pile on too much, with the batting Powerplay pulling the rug from under their feet a few times. The bowlers showed they are learning from the serial hiding by putting up a pretty disciplined effort against Australia. In some ways, the pressure must be off them, as not many would be surprised if they leak 300 runs.

It's the batting India depend on. Is there any chink in it barring those Powerplay debacles? Gautam Gambhir hasn't been at his personal best - were he playing at his optimum, he would have rendered Virat Kohli superfluous at No. 4. Yet Gambhir's slightly iffy form has made Kohli vital in that middle order. Prior to the tournament, it was felt that Kohli would be a misfit in the lower order, where Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan would be more dangerous, and that he might be wasted even further up. But Gambhir hasn't been at his fluent best and India have turned to Kohli to take them through the middle overs. Gambhir has always raised his game against Pakistan and his form will be crucial on Wednesday as it would then give the middle order the licence to attack.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)

India WWLWW
Pakistan WWWLW

Watch out for...

Virender Sehwag In the past few games Sehwag has - curiously, for a batsman so wonderfully innovative as him - tried to hit every spinner through the off side. He would back away and try to drive, slice or cut and has fallen a few times in the process. Pakistan might well have a spinner bowling at him early and it will be fascinating to see whether Sehwag will retain that off-side bias or be more inclusive, and open, in his approach.

Umar Gul's yorkers: After Lasith Malinga, Gul has probably the best control over the yorker in world cricket today. There have of course been days when the radar has been awry but more often than not he has got them right. The Indian lower middle order will be fully tested by the yorkers, slower ones and the bouncers that he loves to bowl.

Sachin Tendulkar v Abdul Razzaq: Bowlers like Hansie Cronje and Razzaq, more than the Umar Guls and the Shoaib Akhtars, have been reasonably successful against Tendulkar. Cronje used to tease Tendulkar with deliveries shaping away from a length outside off while Razzaq specialises in the opposite: he slides the ball back in, looking for that lbw. He hasn't always had success, but it will be a mini-battle worth watching. Will Tendulkar opt for all-out attack or will he bat with relative care against Razzaq?

Zaheer Khan v Kamran Akmal: Kamran loves to square drive and Zaheer has been able to bend the ball back in to the right-hand batsmen this tournament with the new ball. This contest should be fun.

Umar Akmal v spin: India will rely a lot on the slow bowlers during the middle overs, and Umar is the middle-order batsman who loves to attack spin. He has laid into the likes of Daniel Vettori on the tour of New Zealand and is always itching to cut and slog-sweep.

Team news

The signs are that Ashish Nehra is likely to replace Munaf Patel. Even Yusuf Pathan has been sweating it out in the nets raising speculations that he might push R Ashwin hard for a spot in the team. Ashwin has been really good in the games he has played and has added some teeth to the attack while the nature of the patta track has made India think about bringing in Yusuf.

India (probable): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Suresh Raina, 8 Yusuf Pathan / R Ashwin, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish Nehra

Pakistan are thinking of playing three seamers. The choice of the third seamer is between Shoaib and Wahab Riaz. Afridi said Shoaib wasn't 100% fit today but a decision will be taken on the evening preceding the match.

Pakistan (probable) 1 Kamran Akmal (wk), 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Saeed Ajmal / Abdur Rehman, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Wahab Riaz / Shoaib Akhtar.

Pitch and conditions

It's a batting pitch but what's eating up everyone is the dew factor. Read here for a report on the pitch.

Heavy storms, lightning and rain lashed Chandigarh late on Tuesday evening, immediately adding a light shroud of doubt over the game. For the whole day there were no signs, not even a hint of rain playing a spoil-sport but around 9PM, there were rumbling sounds of thunder accompanied by high-speed winds. The velocity of the winds were so strong that the heavy iron barricades manning the team hotel were blown away.

The weather forecast for Wednesday suggests sunshine during the day with minimal chance of heavy rain. Punjab Cricket Association officials said that they had studied the forecasts for the period ending March 31 and there was "zero precipitation" expected. In simple terms, there were no strong rains expected on the day of the match.

Stats and trivia

Afridi is the first bowler in World Cup history to take four wickets in a match on four different occasions in a tournament.

MS Dhoni is the only wicket-keeper captain who has played in 100 ODIs.

Zaheer Khan is the second Indian bowler after Javagal Srinath (44 wickets) to take more than 40 wickets in World Cups.

Quotes

"I feel I have been batting really well. It is just that in some situation I could not bat flamboyantly. If you bat at 5, 6 or 7, and if the top order does really well, it does not give opportunity to lower-order batsmen. The last game was an ideal game where I could have got a bit more runs which were needed at that point of time. So form has been a worry it is just that sometimes there were not many opportunities and when there was an opportunity and there were times I was not able to score in a particular game".

MS Dhoni on his own batting form.

Watch Australia v India, World Cup 2011, Quarter-Final

Battle of the flawed heavyweights

March 23, 2011

Match Facts

March 24, Ahmedabad
Start time 1430 hours (0900 GMT)

Whether Virender Sehwag will play Australia in Ahmedabad is not yet public knowledge

The Big Picture

This match can be seen through several prisms: champions of the world v pre-tournament favourites, misfiring middle order v misfiring middle order, pace-reliant attack v spin-heavy attack, athletic fielders v incompetent fielders. Australia against India is a clash between teams with obvious imperfections. The loser goes home while the winner heads to Mohali, to play Pakistan on March 30.

If any of Ricky Ponting's men are relatively weak-willed, compared to the Australians of campaigns past, they have had plenty to help them focus in the days leading up to this quarter-final. An Australian paper reported Cricket Australia were going to discuss Ponting's future as captain. An English paper reported Ponting was going to jump before he was pushed. An Indian paper reported sinister allegations about Australia's game against Zimbabwe, prompting an angry retraction demand from the ICC. Whether they were planted to drive Australia to distraction is debatable, but none of the stories was substantiated.

Off-field dramas aside, Australia's progress in this World Cup was smooth at first - a comfortable win against Zimbabwe, a smashing one against New Zealand - and then uninspiring, when they laboured against Kenya and Canada. In each of those matches, at least one weakness was evident: a captain struggling for form, a middle order troubled by turn, spinners incapable of striking, and fast bowlers with wonky radars. All of these frailties were exposed by Pakistan, who ended the legendary unbeaten World Cup run on 34 matches. Australia's successes have been built around the opening partnership of Brad Haddin and Shane Watson, and the energy of Brett Lee. That might not be enough to topple India - but it might, for MS Dhoni's team is far from the shoo-in semi-finalist it was expected to be.

Before the World Cup began India's batting line-up was thought to possess the armour of God, their bowling was considered less formidable but effective in home conditions, and the fielding was known to be average. As their campaign played out, it became evident that the armour didn't fit the middle order - there were collapses of 9 for 29 and 7 for 51 - and the bowling, while adequate on helpful surfaces, was mediocre on flat pitches. The fielding has not been average. It has been abysmal. Slow anticipation, slower approaches to the ball, failure to cut off angles, and plain lethargy have allowed opponents to run at will.

For a long time during West Indies' chase, it seemed as though India would make the quarter-finals by beating only the three weakest teams of their group, which would have vindicated this forgiving format designed to prevent the upsets of 2007. But Zaheer Khan saved the day, as India expect him to. Zaheer apart, India have relied on Yuvraj Singh for an extraordinary number of wickets, as well as consistent runs in the middle order. The key, though, is at the top, where Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag have provided tremendous starts. But even if they do it again against Brett Lee and Shaun Tait, it may not be enough.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)

India: WLWWT
Australia LWWWW

Watch out for...

The batting Powerplay was conceived as an asset for the batting team, an aid in the pursuit of fast runs. In the months leading into the World Cup, it began to be a banana skin, with wickets falling as batsmen resorted to rashness during the fielding restrictions. India have slipped spectacularly on it during the tournament, scoring 9 for 154 off 130 balls. During the batting Powerplay, India lost 1 for 32 against England, 4 for 30 against South Africa and 4 for 28 against West Indies, squandering positions of immense strength. Australia haven't mastered it either, making only 4 for 121 off 100 balls. Those five tricky overs could make or break a campaign tomorrow.

If the stakes weren't large enough to fire up Ponting, the talk about his captaincy and retirement will have strengthened his determination to end his form slump with a cathartic performance. Ponting has been dismissed by the short ball - a strength turned weakness - in this World Cup and by spin, a more traditional subcontinent susceptibility. His composure has also been strained. Eight years ago to the day, Ponting ended India's World Cup dream in Johannesburg with a century of frightening brutality. He plans to watch videos of it in the hope that it will help him reproduce something similar in Ahmedabad.

Sachin Tendulkar watched that World Cup slip out of India's grasp as the bowlers conceded 359 in the final. He was then dismissed in the first over of the chase. The Player-of-the-Tournament prize was little consolation. He has the opportunity to write a wonderful script tomorrow - a 100th international century in a victory that will dethrone the World Champions. But cricket, like life, is never perfect.

Team news

Virender Sehwag missed the last group game because of an inflamed knee and India are keeping news of his fitness under wraps. He batted on Tuesday and on the eve of the game as well, but Dhoni said they might wait as late as match morning to take a decision on his participation. If Sehwag does not play, India are likely to field the same XI that beat West Indies.

India (probable): 1 Virender Sehwag/Gautam Gambhir, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir/Suresh Raina, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 R Ashwin, 11 Munaf Patel.

Australia have had an unchanged team since Michael Hussey replaced his brother in the XI, and they are likely to do the same against India. The weakest links have been middle-order batsman Cameron White and offspinner Jason Krejza and potential replacements could be David Hussey and allrounder John Hastings.

"We haven't finalised our 11 yet. We'll have a bit more of a think about things this afternoon, make sure all our players have got through training well, with no injuries or illnesses," Ponting said. "There's a good chance that any of our guys could come in for this game. Coming off a loss last game wasn't ideal for us, and we have to have a look at what we think is going to be the best make-up and balance for the game tomorrow."

Australia (probable): 1 Brad Haddin (wk), 2 Shane Watson, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Cameron White/David Hussey, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Steve Smith, 8 Jason Krejza/John Hastings, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Mitchell Johnson, 11 Shaun Tait.

Pitch and conditions

Australia played their World Cup opener at Motera, where they started slowly against Zimbabwe before accelerating to a formidable total. Ponting expected tomorrow's pitch to be similar to that one. "It was pretty much what you'd expect for a subcontinent wicket: a little bit slower, spun a bit more in the second innings of the game maybe than the first," he said. "We're going to send our coaches down late tonight to have a look at the ground and see if there's any dew about. I think it's supposed to be 41 [degrees] or something [similar], so it will be nice and hot for the boys out there."

Stats and trivia

• India have lost their last four games in Ahmedabad. They batted first in three of those matches.

• Brett Lee has 50 ODI wickets against India, the highest by an Australian bowler. Four of his nine five-wicket hauls are against India.

• India have not won a game against Australia in a global tournament while chasing. Their last win against Australia in a World Cup was in 1987.

• In 14 ODIs against India in India since 2007, Australia have won eight and lost five.

Quotes

"People have been talking about the short-pitched ball a lot, and not to forget the best batsmen in the world don't like facing the short-pitched deliveries. One good thing, it's not something new to us. It follows us. Wherever we are, the shadows of short-pitched deliveries can be seen. I don't think it's a new strategy."
MS Dhoni hopes that familiarity will breed confidence when Lee, Tait and Johnson thunder in.

"Maybe we've just learned to keep our mouths closed a bit more. A lot of that chat hasn't really happened since [Glenn] McGrath and [Shane] Warne went out of the team. Hopefully, our cricket will do the talking on the field tomorrow."
Ricky Ponting on sledging and whether there will be plenty of it during the quarter-final.

Watch India v South Africa Live Streaming World Cup 2011

SA's batsmen and India's bowlers under scrutiny

Will two of these three play or only one?

Match Facts

March 12, Nagpur
Start time 2.30pm (0900 GMT)

The Big Picture

India haven't lost a game yet but haven't escaped the darts from the critics. Why hasn't Harbhajan Singh taken wickets? Why Piyush Chawla? Why not R Ashwin? Why are the batsmen fumbling? Why do the fielders always fumble? Why is Zaheer Khan finding no support from other seamers? Why do they never bowl yorkers?

South Africa have lost one game but that loss threw up the same old question. Why do they choke? The two pre-tournament favourites face each other on a batting track where conventional wisdom would dictate that the team with better bowling and fielding should prevail. However, on their day, both teams are inherently strong enough to beat any logic.

Both teams have kept the team-sheet under wraps. Perhaps they really haven't yet decided. The news from the South African camp offers hints but there is nothing conclusive. Imran Tahir is a doubtful starter but he is not ruled out. AB de Villiers' back is better but it's not sure whether he will keep. If he keeps, Morne van Wyk might lose his spot and they may toy with bringing Lonwabo Tsotsobe in. Johan Botha might replace Tahir. And so it goes on. The logic is easy to understand: It's a batting pitch, so why not push AB to keep and play an extra bowler? If they hadn't choked against England, that decision would have been far easier to make.

India have their own puzzles to solve. MS Dhoni talked about going in with three seamers but he also said Ashwin might play. Barring Zaheer, India's seamers haven't really eased their captain's headaches. Sreesanth was poor in the first game, Munaf Patel has looked fine but there is no guarantee that he won't bleed runs if the batsmen take to him, and Ashish Nehra is yet to regain full fitness. Nehra was Dhoni's go-to man under pressure but suddenly, in the middle of a mundane home ODI series against New Zealand in November 2010, his form gave away and he is yet to recapture it. The Ashwin-Chawla debate has been analysed to death and it will be interesting to see what unfolds tomorrow.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)

South Africa LWWWW
India WWTWL

Watch out for...

Virender Sehwag has gone relatively quiet after the first game but he can be expected to fire on a big stage. He has been over-aggressive in a couple of games but against South Africa he is likely to return to his pre-tournament mood of trying to play as many overs as possible.

JP Duminy will be crucial for South Africa if they decide to go in with an extra bowler. In the recent few games, especially in the home series against India, he showed that he can shoulder the responsibility of leading the middle order. He might well be at the forefront when South Africa take their batting Powerplay and his battle against his nemesis Harbhajan could well be the key.

Team news

How the teams arrive at the final playing XI will give us an insight into their state of mind. Will South Africa attack with an extra bowler? Will India play an extra spinner?

India (probable): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (wk/capt), 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Ashish Nehra/Piyush Chawla/R Ashwin, 11 Munaf Patel

South Africa(possible): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers (wk), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Faf du Plessis, 7 Morne van Wyk/ Johan Botha, 8 Robin Peterson, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Pitch and conditions

As Graeme Smith said, they've been rolling it for four days. It will be hot and dry and dew is not expected to be a factor. Smith made it clear that the toss would have minimal effect.

Stats and trivia

• Imran Tahir is the only South African bowler to take four or more wickets twice in a World Cup game

• Sachin Tendulkar has been out lbw 38 times in ODIs. Only Sanath Jayasuriya (47), and Inzamam-ul-Haq (39) have been dismissed more times.

Quotes

"I don't think this is the be all and end all of the World Cup. This part is about qualifying and then going into the knockouts with some confidence. I hope it is another really good game for the World Cup.."
Graeme Smith puts the game in perspective.

"If I have two bowlers who are giving 70 runs from 20 overs, I would be quite happy with them even if they don't take wickets because ultimately the pressure turns on the batsmen to score runs in today's format ... Harbhajan is doing his job and if the batsmen are not willing to take risks, he is stopping the run-scoring opportunities and breaking the momentum."
MS Dhoni backs his lead spinner.

Watch India v England, World Cup 2011 Live Streaming

An occasion to test nerves and character

February 26, 2011

Match Facts

February 27, Bangalore

Start time 14.30 (0900 GMT)

Michael Yardy could be recalled by England to bolster the spin-bowling department

The build-up and hype ahead of this match has been huge and we are still barely into the second week of the World Cup. This was always going to be one of the marquee clashes of the tournament, and even though it has been moved away from Eden Gardens to the slightly less daunting Chinnaswamy Stadium, that hasn't dulled the anticipation. You only need to see the unfortunate pictures from outside the ground during the week, as locals rushed for tickets, to know how desperate they are to watch their team.

However, there are two sides taking part and England are insisting they can use the expectation being piled on to the hosts in their favour. From a purely cricket view, the stadium switch won't have disappointed Andrew Strauss's team because, both on and off the field in Bangalore, conditions will be slightly less hostile than could have been the case in Kolkata.

Yet England's record against India in their own backyard makes for grim reading. They have won one of their last 13 completed ODIs in the country, going back to the 5-1 drubbing in 2006 and the 5-0 scoreline in 2008, before the series was cancelled due to the Mumbai bombings. In between they were also thrashed at the 2006 Champions Trophy. On one hand the odds say they are due a win, but on the other the statistics make damning reading.

If they want to spoil India's World Cup party the key will be containing the power-packed top order. Virender Sehwag set down the gauntlet with 175 against Bangaldesh and was backed up by Virat Kohli's fine hundred. Sachin Tendulkar was cut short on 25, while Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni didn't even need to bat. It's a daunting prospect, but England have shown they can rise for the big occasion. Whatever happens, let's hope it matches the expectation.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)

India WLLWW
England WLLLW

Watch out for...

Ahead of India matches, it's the likes of Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh who take most of the headlines, but you ignore Gautam Gambhir at your peril. He has become a supremely consistent batsman across all formats and is the perfect foil to his top-order team-mates. He started with a neat run-a-ball 39 against Bangladesh and England will have to ensure they give him as much focus as the mega-star names around him. A one-day average of 34 against England, six runs below his career level, is something he'll want to correct, but the visiting bowlers will want to increase that daylight.

None of England's quicks can be pleased with their efforts against Netherlands, but there were some encouraging signs from Stuart Broad in his first international since the second Ashes Test. Having warmed up with 10 wickets in two games against Canada and Pakistan, he bowled with decent pace against the Dutch and found bounce from a flat Nagpur surface. However, he sometimes got carried away with banging the ball in and forgot to aim at the stumps. His yorker can be effective (he was denied such a wicket when Paul Collingwood forgot to walk inside the circle) and against top-quality batsmen he'll have to be ready to adjust his game plans.

Talking of the quick bowlers, one of the reasons the venue switch isn't all bad news is the bounce that could be on offer. It won't be flying through at shoulder height, but the quick bowlers are likely to find some encouragement especially after the recent heavy rain in the city. One-day cricket is at its best with an even contest between bat and ball.

Team news

Virender Sehwag was struck in the ribs during a net session but is expected to be fine for the match and India have no reason to tinker with the top order. The big question mark comes with Sreesanth, who had a nightmare against Bangladesh when his five overs went for 53. India got away with it that day, but can't afford to carry a bowler in every match. However, Ashish Nehra is not yet at full fitness so India will have to decide whether to stick with Sreesanth or play an extra spinner.

India (possible) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Sreesanth/Piyush Chawla, 11 Munaf Patel.

Broad has been suffering from an upset stomach but is expected to be fit and England's main decision is whether to strength their spin-bowling with a recall for Michael Yardy. The current plan is to get 10 overs from Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen but that's a huge risk against India. The problem is, though, that the man most likely to make way for Yardy would be Ravi Bopara, who helped see the team home against Netherlands.

England (possible) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Kevin Pietersen, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ian Bell, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Graeme Swann, 11 James Anderson

Try picking the XIs for tomorrow's game by playing Team Selector.

Pitch and conditions

There was torrential rain in Bangalore on Friday afternoon which left large puddles on the outfield. The weather has remained cool and cloudy over the weekend, and there is a chance of more showers, which will make the toss important with the possible intervention of Duckworth-Lewis. The damp weather may work against Yardy, but the pitch turned square in the warm-up matches.

Stats and trivia

• Despite all the talk about Sehwag, his average against England in India is the lowest of the current top six - 37.70 - but the strike-rate is 100.

• Sreesanth's performance against Bangladesh was horrid, but he has 10 wickets at 16 each against England in India.

• Unsurprisingly, Pietersen is England's best batsman in India with an average of 56.08 from 14 matches and the lone century among the team's current top order

• India and England have met three times in Bangalore and it's the visitors who actually lead the head-to-head 2-1, although the wins did come back in 1985 and 1993.

Quotes

"I don't think it's a case of reinventing the wheel, we just need to play good, smart cricket. In some ways there's more pressure on India than us in this game."
Andrew Strauss turns to the psychological battle as he aims to turn around England's poor record in India.

"We are not celebrating yet, that's for sure. Of course, we had a good start in the opening game, where we batted really well and after that spinners did a good job in the middle overs. Again, I think it's about the team that will start well and hold the nerves for a consistent period of time."
MS Dhoni chooses to play it safe.

Watch India Vs Pakistan 4th Match Asia Cup 2010 Live Streaming

Saturday, 19 Jun 2010

			India Vs Pakistan
Venue :4th Match, Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium (D/N) Live action starts from: 09:00 GMT (14:30 IST) ODI Asia Cup 2010 Match

India play Pakistan in the fourth game of the Asia Cup at Dambulla. The Indians had made mincemeat of Bangladesh in the first game of the tournament, whereas Pakistan had lost a narrow game to Sri Lanka first up, after they had batted second, under the lights and yet, almost chased down the target.

India's heroes in the first game were Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag. While Gambhir smashed an 80 to guide his side to the win, Sehwag's performances came with the ball, as he scalped figures of 4/6 in 17 balls to end the Bangladeshi resistance.

For Pakistan, the previous game had seen the likes of Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi bowl and bat rather well but failing to achieve the win. Akhtar returned back to international cricket with a three wicket haul and ensured that the side would benefit from his return as the Lankans were throttled thanks to that. at the other end, Afridi's century was one of the best in the business, but his untimely cramping meant that the side was in deep trouble by the time he was sent back.

India, on the other hand, showed signs of rustiness in the early part of the game when they bowled, but came back well to overcome the Bangladeshi batsmen. However, they will need to be careful of the manner in which they bowl, as the stronger teams in Sri Lanka and Pakistan will not spare the Indian bowlers as lightly as the Bangladeshis did.

Against Pakistan, it will be interesting to see whether the Indians try out something different if they bowl first. Zaheer and co. did not seem to be getting much help from the wicket in the early part of the Bangladesh game, but it must also be said that they lacked rhythm.

The good thing from India's point of view is that Zaheer Khan usually gets better as he bowls more and more, and one can expect him to make a comeback against Pakistan. Praveen Kumar did swing the ball around, but it was, rather surprisingly, the spinners who did well.

The battle to look forward to will be the one between Harbhajan Singh and Shahid Afridi, both of whom would love to have a go against each other. Afridi had already shown that he can take on Muralitharan, and he will look to do the same against Bhajji as well. It remains to be seen how well Harbhajan and India respond to that onslaught.