India vs Pakistan Preview & Live Score: ICC Champions Trophy 2009

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If you want to get live score of India vs Pakistan match then visit the link- India vs Pakistan Live Action: ICC Champions Trophy

If you want to get live score of Australia-West Indies match live score then visit the link- Australia vs West Indies Live Action: ICC Champions Trophy 2009

Two arch rivals of cricket, India and Pakistan, are going to face each other on Saturday (26 September) in a crucial match of Champions Trophy 2009. This is the match millions of fans are waiting for and there are a number of things related to this game. Whenever India and Pakistan play against each other, it becomes a big occasion, but this time the significance of the game is even more. Even though both teams are missing some key players, you can still expect a nail-biting affair between India and Pakistan.

Match: India vs Pakistan, Group A, ICC Champions Trophy 2009

Date: 26 September 2009

Venue: SuperSport Park, Centurion, South Africa

Kick off: 12:30 GMT (Local Time 14:30)

Well, this is the first match between the two fierce rivals of the game in 2009. More importantly, this is the first match between them since the Mumbai Terror attack of November 2008. Since that blood-shed, diplomatic relationship between the two countries went down. Indian government did not allow its cricket team to go on a pre-scheduled cricket tour to Pakistan in January this year, before Pakistan government put a bar on its cricketers to take part in IPL 2009 in South Africa. Recently, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has taken an initiative to revive the bilateral relationship between two cricket boards. I think, this match will make their task easy because millions of cricket fans across the world are desperately waiting for this game.

Let’s now back to cricket again. The match is very important for both India and Pakistan. India will kick off its Champions Trophy journey with this game and they would like to start the mission with a victory. Pakistan, on the other hand, already played against West Indies and pulled off an easy 5-wicket victory yesterday (Wednesday). A victory against India would not only boost up Pakistan’s confidence level, but also almost ensure Pakistan’s progress to the semi final from Group A.

India team reached South Africa without two of their key players: Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan- both of whom are suffering from shoulder injury. Opener Gautam Gambhir missed the recently held Compaq Cup tri-nation series in Sri Lanka through a groin injury, but the batsman is all set to return for the Pakistan game. Meanwhile, India has suffered another big blow as Yuvraj Singh has now also been ruled out of the tournament after breaking his finger in practice. The left hander will now be replaced by Virat Kohli who has been called up to fly to South Africa. So, you can see Pakistan will face a depleted India on Saturday.

AFP reported:

"Yuvraj has fractured a finger in his right hand and has been ruled out for six weeks," the Board of Control for Cricket in India said in a press release Wednesday.

"The selectors have chosen Virat Kohli as replacement for Yuvraj. He will fly out as soon as formalities are completed."

Injury concern may not be so intense in the Pakistan camp, but still they are worried about the fitness of their captain Younis Khan who missed their tournament opener. He sustained a broken finger during a practice match last Friday. However, Younis Khan is expected to feature against India.

Sportsillustrated reported:

Pakistan captain Younis Khan also broke a finger on his right hand while going for a catch in the slips during a warmup game against West Indies last Friday. But Khan is hoping to be ready to play in his side's second game against India in Centurion on Saturday.

India’s has lost significant amount of their strength before kicking off their Champions trophy mission and it will be very tough to fill up the void left by the absentees. In the absence of Sehwag, India lacks the fear factor at the top order. Even more importantly, India will miss Yuvraj who is a big contributor when it comes to building an innings. His ability to exploit the spinners in the middle orvers can not be replaced by any other batsman at this moment. Experience Zaheer Khan was instrumental behind India’s good form over the last one year. Naturally, Indian pace department will lack experience in his absence.

However, India can still hold their head up as there are some excellent crickets around. First of all, India will get the service of always inspirational Sachin Tendulkar. If Gambhir passes the fitness test and joins him in the opening slot, India may not need to worry a lot about the absence of Sehwag. In the middle order, India has experienced Rahul Dravid, talented Suresh Raina, captain Dhoni and all rounder Yusuf Pathan. Virat Kohli will also be there in place of Yuvraj Singh, but I think, it will be Suresh Raina who has to take additional responsibility in the absence of Yuvraj.

When it comes to bowling, India has a very good spin attack led by off spinner Harbhajan Singh. India can also seek the service of leg spinner Amit Mishra, but I do not think that India will play two spinners in South African condition. However, Yusuf Pathan’s off spin will also be handy for India. However, their pace attack is not anything special to look at. Yes, there are some talented bowlers like Praveen Kumar and RP Singh, but they do not pose any threat for the opposition bowlers. Ishant Sharma has not yet fully transform his test form into ODI format. Ashish Nehra is very experienced and earned his place in the Indian team with strong domestic performance, but it does not seem that he would be a very big threat for the opponents. However, the thing is that Indian pacers have to perform collectively well if India wants to get off to a good start in the tournament because pacers are supposed to dominate in South African wickets.

Let us now focus on Pakistan squad. Pakistan pacers showed very strong performance against West Indies. You might diminish their success considering the second string West Indies squad, but overall, I believe Pakistani pacers look very strong at this moment and how well Indian batsmen face Pakistani pacers may be decisive in the match. They have an excellent pace attack in the presence of Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer and Naved-ul-Hasan. I do not think that Pakistan will feature Mohammad Asif against India because it will be too big a pressure for the bowler to handle as he has returned to the Pakistan team after a year of doping ban. Quality pacer Iftikhar Anjum is also there in the squad.

Spin attack is also very strong in the presence of Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi. Shoaib Malik’s off spin could also be very effective. If there is anything Pakistan needs to worry about, then it is their consistent batting performance. Chasing below-150 total, Pakistani batsmen suffered a lot against West Indies losing some early wickets. It is not that their batting line up lacks strength and depth. They have a good opening pair in Imran Nazir and Kamran Akmal. Then in the middle order, Pakistan has the likes of Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi and Naved-ul-Hasan.

India may have won the Compaq Cup title, but team India suffered a big-margin defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the practice match. However, Rahul Dravid does not think that his team has to worry about that defeat.

Telegraphindia reported:

“We shouldn’t read too much into it. When the main tournament begins, we would be alright,” Dravid said after the match.

“The conditions in Johannesburg and Centurion would be different. This was a dry surface and it turned straightaway. Spinners bowled 30 overs (of the 50) and that doesn’t happen often in these conditions,” he said.

Online Live Score and Updates

Here, I am giving some live score websites from where you can get the live score and updates of the match:

Cricinfo

Thatscricket

action8cricket

Stickiewicket

Indian and Pakistani players always forget the word ‘defeat’ whenever they face each other on the field. It is a match both sides just want to win it. Considering the fierce rivalry sustained between the two teams, I think, cricket fans are going to experience a highly competitive game. I do not like to pick up any side as favorite, but I guess the result of the match will vastly rely on the performance of Indian pacers and Pakistani batsmen. Now, let us see if India and Pakistan can live up to the expectations of the fans.