ICC World Cup 2015: India vs Pakistan XI the on paper battle

ICC World Cup 2015: India vs Pakistan XI the on paper battle. (Photo Source: BCCI) Less than 3 weeks remain to the start of the 2015 Cricket World Cup but for the fans of India and Pakistan the wait is exaggerated for one more day as the two teams lock horns in their campaign openers on February 15th. With each India-Pakistan game come a string of far too many other things. It may look like that 22 players, 11 from each side, fight for their respective country in a sports field but the fact that with these 22 players the whole subcontinent has its hearts come of their mouth, can never be forgotten. Days and months away from the match date, the fans from the countries start to plan about the match. Each and every fan turns into a chief selector and wants the best XI to face their opponent. CricTracker too got its hand on the opportunity to compare the possible eleven from both the cricketing giants. Ahmed Shehzad vs Shikhar Dhawan Both made their debuts around the same time frame. Both didn’t have a good debut. Both have just recently completed their half-century of ODIs. Both have exactly the same amount of ODI hundreds and nearly equal ODI runs. The only thing that both players differ in is their recent ODI form. Shikhar Dhawan has failed miserably in the ongoing Australian tour while Ahmed Shehzad was Pakistan’s best batsman in 2014. Shikhar Dhawan played really well in the Champions Trophy in England to earn the Man of the Series Award but in the recent past he has had his problems against the seaming ball but Shehzad looked at ease against the same in his recent outings. Mohammad Hafeez vs Rohit Sharma Both made their comebacks after being dropped earlier in the career. Both are the best openers for their country after the 2011 world cup. Both somehow have earned the captain’s trust and never get dropped anymore. The factor that played the most important part in Hafeez’s success was his tight off-spins. To prove this fact, I may present that Mohammad Hafeez was the most economical limited overs bowler in the whole cricketing world since 2011 until he his action was declared illegal by the ICC. Considering both now as full-time batsman, Rohit Sharma is a better pick to survive in seaming and swinging conditions at Australia/New Zealand. Younis Khan vs Ajinkya Rahane This is another well-balanced comparison. Both the batsmen have had their share of success in the shorter format. Both will bat at no.3, a position known to be the backbone of any batting line-up. Teams play their best batsman at no. 3 and India did play their best Virat Kohli until recently when Kohli wanted youngsters to take a feel of the increased responsibility. In my opinion, the battle will be a balanced one considering the recent forms from both sides, but Younis Khan may take a slight advantage. Younis Khan returned to the ODI in Pakistan’s previous series and made it to the WC squad with a 100 ODI while Ajinkya Rahane has been an essential figure in the Indian batting line-up off late. Another factor that could affect Rahane negatively is his batting position; he started as an opener, then moved into the middle-order, then back as an opener and now sits at no. 3. Haris Sohail vs Virat Kohli If someone had to name top 3 batsman of any format in cricket right now, Virat Kohli will surely be the one from the three. There isn’t a single record that this guy didn’t feast upon and his Pakistani opponent Haris Sohail will be well aware of that. Both the batsman may be of same age-group but Virat Kohli has a much greater experience going into this world cup. 6200+ runs in just 140 innings with 21 centuries and 33 half-centuries compared to mere 280 runs in 8 innings with 2 half-centuries – even a dumb can pick the better of the two but considering the talent the two guys possess, both appear to be the backbone of their batting line-up and it will be an even and good contest between the two youngsters to outshine his counterpart. Misbah-ul-Haq vs Suresh Raina One is a 40-year old captain of his country and one is a 29-year old youngster. Though they bat at the same number but the role both play in their teams is way opposite to each other. One is forced come out early because of a batting collapse and act as an anchor for a respectable total while the other has to usually bat in the middle overs and take the game towards a high end finish. One is vulnerable to heaps and heaps of criticism from his countrymen for batting slow while the other is an established middle-order batsman. If the recent form and the role of both in their teams is set as the criteria then Misbah-ul-Haq will have a better hand on Suresh Raina. He has all the team revolving around him, taking his time to settle and then unleash his wrath towards the latter part of the innings. Umar Akmal vs MS Dhoni Regarded as the best finishers, both Umar Akmal and MS Dhoni play a key role in their team’s batting. Not to forget that MS Dhoni is the captain, most successful, of India and keeps wickets too. The defending world cup captain is more expected to not panic and keep his head calm in pressure situations while Umar Akmal has been found guilty of playing rash shots and thug every ball out of the park but this has seen a decline in important games. Both the batsman will start this year’s campaign as the batsmen with highest average in the mega event and will surely look to build on their average and runs tally. In my opinion, both are equally talented and hard working and deserve a 50-50 tie. Shahid Afridi vs Ravindra Jadeja Shahid Afridi will be the highest wicket-taker in the world cup and with Saeed Ajmal’s exclusion due to a ban; he will be the lone spearhead of Pakistan’s bowling attack. Both the all-rounders are more bowlers than batsmen but ride on a fan-hyped misconception of being better batsmen. We all know what Shahid Afridi can do with the bat on his day and with the ball, he tasted his best outing in the previous edition of the world cup when he earned the title of ‘Leading wicket-taker in the event’. Ravindra Jadeja has also earned Dhoni’s trust in yester years and he redeemed the trust with great success with the ball and at time with the bat. Experience, more likely to perform under-pressure, added advantage to tear apart any bowling line-up on his day and being able to contribute as an all-rounder more often than Jadeja – makes Shahid Afridi a better pick between these two. Sarfraz Ahmed vs Ravichandran Ashwin There is nothing much to compare between these two guys. Sarfraz is a genuinely explosive wicket-keeper batsman while Ravichandran Ashwin is a spin-bowling all-rounder who can bat longer when conditions are favorable. Both has tasted luck in their respective departments and appear to the country’s best man according to the tasks and responsibility they get. 50-50 but Ravichandran Ashwin is more likely to perform better and trouble his opponents. Junaid Khan/Bilawal Bhatti/Sohail Khan*, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Irfan vs Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma * Junaid Khan was injured when the team left for New Zealand. Bilawal Bhatti is expected to replace him. The pace attack will be the weaker link for both the teams going into this world cup. India’s most experienced pacer Ishant Sharma has played 75 ODIs and Junaid Khan, Pakistan’s most experienced pacer, has played 48 matches. Based on the recent form on success, the two pace attacks had in the near past, the two sides match equally to each other with one of the three from each side outshining the remaining two on his day. Pakistan’s pace attack will have a slight advantage over India because of Mohammad Irfan. The tall, gangly fast bowler rests at 7 feet and 1 inch and on faster pitches in Australia and New Zealand is likely to generate enough bounce to get the batsmen to their toes and face some chin-music. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been found to move the ball both ways in seaming conditions and has troubled Pakistan openers in the past. Wahab Riaz, in his last meeting vs India in a mega event, became only the 2nd bowler to take a 5-fer in a India-Pakistan world cup game and he will surely look to repeat the same, if given a chance this season.