Champions Trophy

2009 Champions Trophy: India v Pakistan Preview

After six years, India and Pakistan again play each other at an ICC event and that too at Centurion, where they last met in the 2003 World Cup. This time, like then, there is no favourite going into this crucial Group A clash of the 2009 Champions Trophy.

India have been struck badly by injuries. Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag are already missing out and sitting at home. Yuvraj Singh too will join them soon now. That means that India will have to make certain changes in their batting line up or indeed their playing eleven. They could bring in a batsman, a bowler to go in with five bowlers or bring in Abhishek Nayar in this high pressure match as a second all rounder in the team.

Gautam Gambhir will come in the side for sure and that might mean Rahul Dravid will move down the order as well. But who will fill Yuvraj’s shoes in batting and bowling remains to be seen. The Indians will be tempted to play two spinners at SuperSport Park, which has brought much joy to Ajantha Mendis and Roelof van der Merwe in the first two matches.

Younis Khan might have recovered from his injury and will be available to play the match. That would mean Shahid Afridi will have to give up the captaincy hat for now and return to being just a player. Their main strength is their fast bowling with two able spinners to back them up. But it is their batting that will need to counter the Indian bowling by not playing careless shots and getting carried away by the sheer occasion.

The match begins at 6 pm IST.

Tags: 2009 Champions Trophy, India, pakistan