Sunday’s game will be a grudge match for India. The wounds of the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan are still fresh. For India, a team that has dominated its arch-rivals in ICC tournaments across formats, the Champions Trophy has often been a banana peel. It’s the only ICC tournament where Pakistan have got the better of India.
Two of the three defeats came in England – in 2004 and 2017 – while the other defeat came in South Africa in 2009. The conditions offered substantial help to seamers and Pakistan showed why they were better than India on that front.
Circumstances are a lot different going into Sunday’s match. India have largely dominated Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Their only two defeats against Pakistan here have come in the T20 format. Revisiting the ODI face-offs at the venue, India didn’t break a sweat in the two matches against Pakistan in the 2018 Asia Cup.
Going by early indications of the Dubai pitch, where India played Bangladesh and won, there won’t be any exaggerated seam movement. India are loaded with competent spinners, while Pakistan have one ‘mystery’ spinner in Abrar Ahmed.
As for Pakistan’s pacers, their reputation of being a nursery for fast bowlers seems to have hit a roadblock after the exit of Mohammed Amir, the man responsible for triggering India’s top-order collapses at Centurion and the Oval in 2009 and 2017.
Shaheen Shah Afridi isn’t the force he was while Naseem Shah is a work in progress. One of Afridi’s best spells, however, came against India in the 2021 T20 World Cup in Dubai.
Pakistan’s batting too doesn’t inspire much confidence at the moment. They seem to be playing an outdated brand of cricket. They don’t have the depth or reputation to consistently dominate a world-class attack. However, India will still be wary of Pakistan’s unpredictable nature.
A lot has changed since 2017. For India, captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja are in the last leg of their ODI careers. Hardik Pandya has grown in stature, but an unsettled middle order is still cause for concern in case of an early collapse.
Going by form and conditions, Pakistan are the clear underdogs going into the match. India just need to mind their step.
