Published: Mar 30, 2011, 12:59 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 19, 2014, 10:51 AM (IST)
By Dileep V
In what is billed as the mother of all clashes, India and Pakistan meet on Wednesday at the PCA Stadium, Mohali, with the winners getting entry in to the final of the World Cup.
Pakistan brushed aside West Indies in the quarters, while India got past Australia; it was the third time they ousted a defending champion from the World Cup. India knocked out two-time champions West Indies in the 1983 final and Pakistan – champions in 1992 – from the 1996 edition at quarter-final stage.
Head to head
The subcontinent giants have met each other 119 times, with Pakistan having advantage over their neighbours. Overall they have won 69 to India’s 46 and have an admirable record in India winning 17 of the 26 matches. In World Cups though it’s a different story, India has never lost a match against their arch rivals. They defeated them in 1992 in Sydney, 1996 in Bangalore, 1999 in Old Trafford and 2003 in Centurion.
When it comes to knock-out matches, Pakistan have a 7-4 win-loss record. All seven victories of Pakistan have come in the final of the tournament. Mahendra Singh Dhoni though has a 6-5 win-loss record against Pakistan.
| Matches | India win | Pakistan win | No Result | |
| Overall | 119 | 46 | 69 | 4 |
| In India | 26 | 9 | 17 | 0 |
| In World Cup | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Knock-out matches | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| At Mohali | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
It’s Indian batting vs Pakistan bowling
The Indian batsmen outshine their Pakistan counterparts in all departments. While the Indian openers average 53 and a strike rate of over 100, Pakistan openers average a paltry 20 and a strike rate of less than 75. Indian batsmen have scored five hundreds and 10 fifties to Pakistan’s 8 fifties. No Pakistan batsmen have scored a hundred in this tournament.
Sachin Tendulkar has two hundreds in the tournament, while Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh have one each. Umar Akmal is the only Pakistan batsmen to have crossed 200 runs in the tournament. Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan have couple of fifties to their names.
The main concern for both the teams is the lower middle order. The culprits from both the teams are their captains. Both of them have failed with the bat when mattered. Dhoni has 72 runs in the tournament, while Afridi has 50.
India and Pakistan batting performance in this World Cup
| Batting Position | Average | Strike rate | 100s/50s |
| Openers (1-2) | |||
| India | 53.01 | 105.54 | 3/2 |
| Pakistan | 20.43 | 74.29 | 0/1 |
|
Middle order (3-5) |
|||
| India | 46.56 | 88.58 | 2/7 |
| Pakistan | 40.60 | 72.50 | 0/6 |
|
Lower Middle Order (6-7) |
|||
| India | 32.14 | 80.94 | 0/1 |
| Pakistan | 30.33 | 91.61 | 0/1 |
If Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul are the bowling stars of Pakistan in this tournament, then it’s Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh for India. Zaheer has bagged 17 wickets at 16.23 and an economy of less than four and a half. Yuvraj’s slow left-arm spin has brought him 11 wickets including a five wicket haul against Ireland. Shahid Afridi is the leading wicket taker in the tournament with 21 wickets, which includes two 5-wicket hauls. Gul has 14 scalps to his name coming at less than 15 per wicket.
India and Pakistan’s bowling performance in this World Cup
| Batting Position | Wickets | Average | Economy |
| Pacers | |||
| India | 27 | 25.70 | 5.41 |
| Pakistan | 25 | 23.36 | 4.32 |
|
Spinners |
|||
| India | 27 | 37.56 | 4.85 |
| Pakistan | 34 | 18.59 | 3.71 |
The Mohali factor
Out of the 18 matches played at the PCA Stadium, Mohali, 13 have been won by team batting first and five while chasing. India have a decent record at this ground winning five of the nine matches played here. Pakistan have a 2-4 win-loss record here. The two teams have played two games at this venue, both of them won by Pakistan.
No Indian has scored a century at this ground. The closest one was Tendulkar’s 99 against Pakistan in 2007. He is also the highest run-getter at this ground with 281 runs in 6 matches with three fifties. Younis Khan scored a century in the same match in 2007.
Harbhajan Singh has snared nine wickets at under 25, while Gul has seven wickets at 19.85 per wicket.
The average score on this ground is 254. Batting first, it is 262 and 244 when batting second. For India the average score is 259, while for Australia it’s 256. In World Cups the ground has hosted three matches and the average score is 245.
(Dileep.V is a Scouser fan, Sports freak, Movie buff, Laggard Quizzer and dreams of setting foot on Anfield one day)
