Daily Times

BIRMINGHAM: Sarfraz Ahmad and his charges are aiming to their break their jinx against the defending champions when Pakistan take on archrivals India in their opener of the ICC Champions Trophy at Edgbaston Ground here on Sunday (today). The cricket-mad neighbouring countries rarely square off and hundreds of millions of fans are expected to tune in and watch the teams fight for their respective national pride. Pakistan’s challenge is more cricketing. They have fallen behind Bangladesh in terms of being in touch with modern limited-overs cricket. Pakistan’s Test cricket has coped, but limited-overs cricket is where their isolation has hurt them the most.

India have never lost a 50-over World Cup or Twenty20 showdown against Pakistan, and a win today would put them in good stead in a tough group also including Sri Lanka and South Africa. But Pakistan have won two of their three Champions Trophy showdowns against India, ratcheting up the pressure on the tournament’s holders. The two sides last met in Kolkata during the World T20 last year, when hosts India outplayed Pakistan in a group match. Perhaps their most memorable clash of modern times was the gripping 2007 World Twenty20 final, which India won by five runs.

Their few encounters are frequently poisoned by the political rivalry of the day. For almost 18 years, wars prevented either side from visiting the other until the ice was broken in 1978, but even today matches are few and far between. The two sides have not played a bilateral series since 2012-2013, and India have refused to consider the idea without an end to ‘cross border terrorism’, code for militant incursions along the disputed Kashmir border. India have far more at stake in Sunday’s match as victory is vital not just for diplomatic point-scoring but potentially securing a berth in the semi finals.

With the tussle between India skipper Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble hogging the limelight before the crucial tie, Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur has hinted that the issue could be detrimental to India’s chances of successfully defending the title this time round. Mind games are an integral part of modern-day cricket and speaking on the eve of the match, Arthur said that it was crucial that the captain and coach share a good relation as that helps in keeping the team together. “I don’t know what their problems are but I have always believed that the coach and captain relationship is very important,” Arthur said.

Indian senior players are reportedly unhappy with Kumble’s hard taskmaster style and this could become one of the main reasons for him not continuing after his tenure ends on June 18. Kumble has had a very successful one-year tenure as the coach of the Indian team and under his stewardship, Virat Kohli and his troops have won each and every series that they have played so far. However, off the field, things aren’t as rosy as it may seem. Commenting on the plan for the game, Pakistan’s bowling attack holds the key against an experienced Indian batting line-up, Arthur said: “Gone are the days of stopping runs. We have to pick wickets and our idea will be to attack the Indian batsmen. Our priority will be to bowl India out.” Pakistan skipper Sarfraz echoed his coach’s sentiments. “We have seen before that if the Indian top-order collapses, then they struggle. Our left-arm bowlers will have tricks up their sleeves. The pressure will be on India. We are ranked No.8 and can only go up from here. The pressure will be on India,” he said.

Sarfraz went on to add that the idea would be to send back Kohli early. “He is their main batsman and the idea is to get rid of him at the earliest. Our pacers will target him,” he said.

Arthur also announced the team’s lineup. Junaid Khan, Haris Sohail and Fakhar Zaman have been dropped from the squad, leaving Sarfraz Ahmed, Azhar Ali, Ahmed Shahzad, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Shadab Khan, Fahim Ashraf, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz. Arthur said further changes to the team’s line-up would be made in light of the pitch and ground conditions ahead of the match. “We have a lot of faith and a lot of confidence,” Arthur added.

On the other side, India captain Kohli was adamant he had ‘no problems’ with coach Kumble amid reports of a damaging rift. “There have been a lot of speculations and a lot of things being written by people without actually being a part of the changing room, which is very strange,” he said. “There are no problems whatsoever. If something is put in place as a process, I don’t see why people are creating so many speculations about it. It’s been followed last time as well, and I didn’t see any issues being created last time. It’s the same process. It’s just happening after 12 months. And there are no issues whatsoever. The team is totally focused on the Champions Trophy.”