CT: Only pride at stake as India take on Pakistan

Like every time they have clashed in the history of the game archrivals India and Pakistan will be taking fresh guard at Edgbaston tomorrow With India already in the semifinals and Pakistan out of the competition the last group B league fixture of the ICC Champions Trophy will only be of academic interest but only just When the Champions Trophy tickets went online for sale in April this year it took all of 30 minutes for the allocated tickets to be lapped up The insatiable demand from Indian and Pakistani fans will mean tomorrow39s game will be more than a dead rubber Birmingham is the second most populous city outside of London MisbahulHaq and MS Dhoni Pic AP Getty Images The city is home to a chunky mass of Asian expats whose voracious appetite for cricket has always seen Edgbaston wearing its prettiest frock when India and Pakistan play At least 90 per cent of the 25000 capacity crowd is expected to be divided between the subcontinental cricket giants There are many ways to look at any India versus Pakistan clash From an emotional standpoint supporters of both teams will start from scratch but the final equation will be determined by how the players ultimately perform in the middle Like any such battle where mind and matter go hand in hand tomorrow39s contest will be unique as it will test both skill and mental toughness of the players With nothing to lose Pakistan can be a dangerous enemy The agony of crashing out of the Champions Trophy after two horrible performances against West Indies and South Africa will be instantly forgotten if Pakistan can beat India the reigning World Cup champions and the No 1 ODI team according to the ICC Champions Trophy history is of course siding with Pakistan They have never lost to India in six editions of this event Pakistan39s first win in this tournament came at Edgbaston in September 2004 Chasing 201 for a win Mohammad Yousuf then known as Yousuf Youhana scored an unbeaten 81 to anchor Pakistan to a threewicket victory with four balls to spare In headtohead Pakistan made it 20 against India in the Champions Trophy with a 54run win at the Supersport Park in Centurion in September 2009 Shoaib Malik scored a 126ball 128 to give Pakistan39s experienced bowling attack 302 runs to defend Two run outs Gautam Gambhir 57 and Rahul Dravid 76 doomed India Suresh Raina39s 46 went in vain as Mohammed Amir NavedulHasan Saaed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi picked up two wickets apiece to consign India to a big defeat Purely on form India have a good chance to pull one back at Pakistan this time A win will take India to the top of group B with six full points and they will travel to Cardiff to play the No 2 team in group A India opened their Champions Trophy campaign against South Africa in Cardiff with a 26run victory on June 6 Like most encounters between the archrivals tomorrow39s match will be a clash between Pakistan39s bowlers and India39s batsmen With rain soaking Edgbaston on Wednesday and Thursday and the sun playing hide and seek conditions may not be ideal for high scores But India will back themselves largely because they have posted 300plus scores thrice in four games twice in warmup matches The toss therefore will be crucial as the team batting second will have the advantage of pacing its innings according to the circumstances Both India and Pakistan have sound knowledge of the Edgbaston wicket Riding on hundreds from Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik India chased down 333 with consummate ease here in a warmup match against Sri Lanka on June 1 Pakistan on the other hand were shot out for 167 chasing South Africa39s 234 for nine in a group league game on June 10 Pakistan39s batting has been a serious worry in this tournament The absence of a grafter in the toporder has exposed the brittle middleorder too soon Except opener Nasir Jamshed and skipper MisbahulHaq none of the batsmen have fired Mohammed Hafeez and Malik39s poor run with the bat hit Pakistan hard India39s batting remains their biggest strengthThe opening combination of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan has worked like magic Against quality pace attacks especially against a South African pace quartet the duo put on 100plus stands that gave set up the middleorder to control the innings Dhawan has been outstanding with backtoback centuries The last time the teams met Pakistan surprised hosts India 21 in a short series in December 2012January 2013 The lefthanded Jamshed made it a memorable tour with backtobackhundreds at Chepauk and Eden Gardens Pakistan won both games But come tomorrow the battle lines will be drawn afresh and only pride and honour will be at stake Teams from India Mahendra Singh Dhoni capt Ravichandran Ashwin Shikhar Dhawan Ravindra Jadeja Dinesh Karthik Virat Kohli Bhuvneshwar Kumar Amit Mishra Irfan Pathan Suresh Raina Ishant Sharma Rohit Sharma Murali Vijay Vinay Kumar Umesh Yadav Pakistan MisbahulHaq capt Nasir Jamshed Mohammad Hafeez Imran Farhat Kamran Akmal Shoaib Malik Asad Shafiq Saeed Ajmal Junaid Khan M Irfan Asad Ali Wahab Riaz Umer Amin Abdul Rehman Ehsan Adil Match starts 3pm IST