MANCHESTER: The first thing associated with an India-Pakistan match is pressure. They say this fixture tests nerves like none else. Frenzy is next. Tickets are always in demand and fans are prepared to shell out a fortune to be at the ground. Unrealistic expectation is another. Players are expected to play out of their skins in this one as if no other match exists.
This Indian team appears completely cut off from all that. A day before this World Cup’s biggest draw in terms of spectator interest, they looked a chilled out lot. Virat Kohli was in great mood during nets, sharing laughs with teammates.
Youngsters Khaleel Ahmed and Rishabh Pant, who are not part of the squad, were joking with him. The players were relaxed and body language gave away nothing that suggested this is a make or break match.
The skipper was asked a number of times, almost provoked, at the pre-match media interaction to comment on the difference between this game and others. He did not even get there.
“As professional cricketers, we are supposed to concentrate on what we can do instead of looking at the opposition. It’s no different tomorrow. The ground will be full. But that’s what happens in every game that we play. We respect every opposition and believe in getting our acts right.”
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Vijay Shankar looks likely
Practice sessions are sometimes accurate indicators of what team combinations might be. Going by that, Vijay Shankar looks certain to play in the middle-order in place of KL Rahul, who will open in the absence of Shikhar Dhawan.
The Tamil Nadu all-rounder was the fourth batsman to have nets after Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Coach Ravi Shastri was watching from the position of the umpire and the captain cheered loudly when he connected well. He did quite a bit of bowling too. Vijay’s rival for a place in the XI, Dinesh Karthik came for batting when there was not much time left.
Left-arm factor
Considering the number of left-arm pacers in the Pakistan team, the Indians were practising specifically against that variety. Other than Khaleel who is travelling with the team to bowl at the nets, there was a local bowler delivering the kind of stuff the Indians expect from Mohammed Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Wahab Riaz. Fielding coach R Sridhar was using the ball-throwing device that teams use these days down that angle.
One more pacer
Going again by net practice, the Indians are likely to bring in Mohammed Shami after having played the first two games with two specialist fast bowlers and spinners each.
While the batsmen were having nets at the practice facility outside the main ground, the bowlers were in the playing arena working with bowling coach Bharat Arun. Shami was in this lot, with Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal. Kuldeep Yadav was not among them. He was bowling at the batting nets with Ravindra Jadeja.
“We have seen the conditions here and depending on that a decision will be taken on what our bowling for this match is going to be. We are flexible and keeping options open. But yes, the weather will play a part in determining what we will use for this match. If the weather stays like this, we will pick our resources accordingly,” said Kohli.
Eye on the sky
They call it the classic English weather. The sun was out in the morning, the covers were removed and the Indian team had fielding and warm-up drills at the main ground. Soon after they were done, it started pouring again. So fingers stay crossed.
It’s 6-0 in favour of India in World Cup matches against Pakistan. Come Sunday and there is a possibility of this becoming 6.5-0.5. What a letdown that would be for the thousands flying down from different parts of the world just for this game!