Pakistan need to show killer instinct against jaded India

It’s easy to get carried away. After all, it’s a World Cup game against India and the entire world is watching.
But if there was ever a time for Pakistan to keep their eyes on the ball, it’s now.
Pakistan reached Australia as rank outsiders with very few giving them a chance of going beyond the quarter-finals. Some are even predicting that they might even have a tough time reaching the last eight.
Their Pool B opener against the Indians at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday (today) is a perfect opportunity for Pakistan to put an end to such speculations, once and for all.
Beating India, the defending champions and one of the top-ranked teams in the world, will not only provide them with a lot of cushion in the pool stages but will also catapult Pakistan in the elite group of serious title contenders.
Can Pakistan do it?
They might have failed in their previous attempts to conquer India in a World Cup game, but Pakistan are in an excellent position to change history. It’s not because Pakistan are a very solid team but because from where I see it, the Indians will be taking the field at the Adelaide Oval with their guard down.
The current Indian team is like a heavyweight boxer who is fast running out of his energy reserves. MS Dhoni and his touring party comes across as a jaded lot after getting thrashed consistently by Australia and later by England in the lead up to the World Cup. They’ve mostly been shooting blanks.
Pakistan, in contrast, is finally getting into rhythm.
Though it’s unwise to read too much into practice games but Pakistan’s win against England in a World Cup warm-up in Sydney showed that the Green-shirts are beginning to peak at the right time.
What Pakistan need is to show the sort of killer instinct that made them one of the top teams back in the nineties.
The Indians are down and what Pakistan need is to kick them hard where it will hurt them most — their much-trumpeted batting line-up.
The likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni are the ones capable of taking the game away from Pakistan. Pakistan will need their pace attack to click to undo them. They will need their gentle giant, Mohammad Irfan, to breathe fire.
We saw on Saturday how co-hosts Australia and New Zealand ran roughshod over England and Sri Lanka respectively. Pakistan will need to show similar aggression on what is expected to be a run-filled wicket at the Adelaide Oval. A few wickets of key Indian batsmen with the new ball and Pakistan will soon be running all over their old foes.
The key man for Pakistan when it comes to batting is going to be Misbah-ul-Haq. The skipper let his team down in Mohali four years ago and cannot afford to do that again. He is in top form and should anchor Pakistan’s innings. Misbah will need all out support from his senior lieutenants – Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan.
There has been a lot of debate over Younis and whether he deserves to be in the playing eleven. He might not have hit top form since the team’s arrival in the Southern Hemisphere but personally I believe Pakistan will drop Younis from this big game at their own peril. He is the man for the big occasion and I’m sure runs will flow from his bat against India.
Afridi, too, should be in his element considering that it will possibly be Lala’s last World Cup outing against India. He will need to bowl ten tight overs and a wicket or two will be perfect for Pakistan’s cause. But equally important will be how he fares with the bat coming in at number 7 in what is expected to be a high-scoring game.
Misbah is confident that it will not just be his senior colleagues but his entire team that will click in front of 54,000 fans in Adelaide in a match that is expected to attract a record global audience of more than a billion.
We will see that today but I’m sure about one thing. Misbah, for one, won’t be getting carried away.