Dhaka: Pakistan cricket team willface arch-rivals India in fifth match of Asia Cup 2012 under rain threat on Sunday (today).
India has to defeat Pakistan to stay alive in the tournament. If it wins, the berth in the summit clash would be set in stone and India will have to hope for Sri Lanka to defeat Bangladesh and rely on various permutations in the points table.
Asia Cup Statistics:
Both teams have faced each other nine times in the Asia Cup, each winning four games.
India have the better head-to-head record in matches played in Bangladesh, winning five and losing three.
What Pakistani Cricket Gurus Say:
Former Pakistani skipper and wicket keeper Rashid Latif views Pakistan as favorite in Sunday’s match.
“Pakistan has potential of performing both in bowling and batting while India team is suffering from bad patch at the moment,” Rashid, who runs a cricket academy at Karachi, said while talking with media.
“Whenever Pakistan and India play against each other there is lot of tension and the atmosphere is electrifying and this naturally affects the people on both sides of the border. I would advise players to be very careful about how they behave on the field during the match,” said former great Javed Miandad.
Pakistani Prime Minister’s directives:
Pakistani prime minister has directed the electricity supplying companies to stop load-shadding during the Pakistan-India match.
Pitch and conditions
Despite the rain on Saturday evening, the forecast for Sunday suggests a full game will be possible.
In general, the pitches have become better for batting in the evening, and the team defending a target will also have to watch out for possible dew. After Bangladesh’s heist, the captains may back their teams to chase down any target.
