Can India beat Pakistan in World Cup without Tendulkar? Wait and watch

When holders India clash withPakistan in their highoctane campaign opener ofthe ICC Cricket World Cup on February 15 at the Adelaide Ovalthe aweinspiring Sachin Tendulkar would be conspicuouslyabsent for the first time in a match between the twoarchrivals in the showpiece eventThe batting maestro who has retired from the game aftera glorious 24yearcareer was a constant presence in each ofthe five contests between the subcontinental giants incrickets mega event picking up three man of the match awardstoo and stamping his authority on these nervewrackingcontests which had all ended in Indias favourSignificantly all but one of these victories for Indiaagainst Pakistan had occurred in the month of MarchPakistan captain Shahid Afridi R speaks with Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar after a dropped catch during their ICC Cricket World Cup semifinal match at The Punjab Cricket Association PCA Stadium in Mohali on March 30 2011 PicAFPTendulkar made his World Cup debut in 1992 when the megaevent was staged in Australia and New Zealand previously andplayed a very crucial innings of 54 not out besides pickingup the vital wicket of Aamer Sohail to bag the man of thematch award at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Indias victoryover Pakistan in their firstever Cup meetingAnd it was Tendulkar who again stole the show with hisvital albeit chancy knock of 85 at Mohali four years ago inthe semifinal to be adjudged the man of the match for thethird time in World Cup contests between the two Asian giants thus paving the way for India to win the coveted title afew days later by beating Sri Lanka in the final in MumbaiIn between his first and last appearance against Pakistanin the tournament Tendulkar made 31 in Bangalore in thequarterfinals in 1996 45 at Old Trafford Manchester in agroup game in 1999 after rushing home to attend to hisfathers last rites and an unforgettable 98 at Centurion Parkin South Africa that enabled India to chase down Pakistansimposing totalIn this period only once in 2007 when thetournament was held in the West Indies and both India andPakistan crashed out in shocking fashion early on that thetwo subcontinental rivals failed to meet each other in theWorld CupWith a tally of 313 runs in five matches at a highaverage of 7805 Tendulkar stands head and shoulders aboveall other Indians in all World Cup contests against PakistanOnly two other Indian batsmen have amassed more than 100runs against Pakistan in combined World Cup history Mohammed Azharuddin with a tally of 118 in three games andRahul Dravid with 105 in two matchesIn his own words Tendulkar rates the 75ball 98 he madeagainst Pakistans top class threepronged pace attack ofWasim Akram Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar at Centurion Parka dozen years ago in South Africa as among his careerbestThis innings must rank as one of the best I have playedbecause of the immense pressure it was played underTendulkar has stated in his autobiography Playing It MyWayIt was always going to be a huge game for both teamsThe intensity was such that I could not sleep properly forthree nights before the game If there was ever a match wewanted to win it was this one The nation would brook nofailure and for many of our fans this was the true final Itreally did not matter to them what happened in the rest of thetournament as long as we managed to beat Pakistan atCenturion he said in the bookThe ground was buzzing hours before the match It wassport at its best This is why I played cricket to be out inthe middle for my team on the worlds biggest cricketingstage against Indias archrival Listening up to thenational anthem and singing the words gave me goose bumpsIn that match after seeing Pakistan riding on Saeed Anwars 101 to rattle up an imposing score of 273 for 7 Tendulkar told his opening partner Virender Sehwag that he would take first strike and before starting to attack the Pakistan fast bowlers they needed to play out the initial burstBut what unfolded was the opposite with Tendulkar drivingAkram to the covers in the first over and Sehwag too followingsuitAkhtar bowled the second over and Tendulkar has writtenthat and in many ways it turned out to be the defining overof the matchA slash over third man for six was followed by a flickbehind square leg from outside off for four and a straightpunch for four Eighteen runs came off that over and Tendulkarsays in his book that It was a dream startThe opening duo then attacked Waqar and Tendulkar haswritten Our body language had turned aggressive and when Ifinished off the Waqar over with another four we were firmlyin control We had not allowed the bowlers to settle down andhad seized the advantage It was the best early assaultagainst Pakistan that I had been involved in and it could nothave come at a more important timeAbout his World Cup game in Sydney and Indias firsteverwin over Pakistan Tendulkar says in his book It was asatisfying win and by the end of the match I had completelylost my voice because of all the shoutingIt was the first time India had played Pakistan in theWorld Cup since the inception of the tournament in 1975 and itwas the start of a string of victories against them in WorldCups The 1992 victory was particularly pleasing because I wasalso the Player of the Match Tendulkar has written in hisautobiographyOn the 1996 quarter final win over Pakistan in BangaloreTendulkar who made a slow 31 while putting on 90 runs withNavjot Sidhu for the first wicket has written that in theteam hotel they were treated like royalty after thetensionpacked 39run victoryOn our way back to the hotel we could see people liningthe streets and they were throwing garlands and flowers at theteam bus In the hotel too we were being treated differentlyhe has said in his autobiographyWe were being treated like royalty and it felt wonderfulto see the country so happy and proud he has remarked in hisbookAbout the victory in 1999 Tendulkar has recalled ithappened when the Kargil conflict with Pakistan was onThe match had assumed great significance against thebackdrop of strained political relations between the twocountries the war in Kargil in Kashmir was on at the timeIndia won the highly charged encounter by 47 runs withVenkatesh Prasad picking up a fivewicket haul Tendulkar haswritten in his autobiographyOn what later turned out to be his secondlast innings inthe World Cup and against Pakistan in the semifinals on March30 2011 Tendulkar has stated it was One of the mostpressured games of my career Playing Pakistan in a World Cupsemifinal on Indian soil it just couldnt get any biggerMahendra Singh Dhoniled India defeated Pakistan by 29runs to move into the April 2 final against Sri Lanka thatthey won at the Wankhede Stadium to clinch the title for thesecond time after a gap of 28 yearsThe two archrivals are slated to meet again on February 15 but this time the reassuring presence of Sachin Tendulkar wont be there Whether Indias young guns can rise to the challenge and continue their winning spree remains to be seen