The finale: Ind - Pak

   After a very long time we have an ODI Ind-Pak final. Gone are the days when Pak. was a worthy opponent. The tension and euphoria is not the same as from the years gone by. There are already some murmurs about how Pakistan got here and it is a pre-arranged final. I believe there is some truth and this probably happened at the board level of certain cricketing nations. (Pak., SF, SL, Eng and Ind). Some of the boards are cash scrapped and badly need money. This also explains the recently arranged India's tour to WI following the CT with a star studded Indian squad. As long as India is winning, we could worry less about these controversies.

  India definitely favorites heading into the game. They are peaking at the right time and have been clinical the last 2 games. The Indian bowling is a treat to watch these days. The bowlers are matured and adjust well to almost any kind of surface. Batting has always been good and on these flat pitches it has been truly outstanding. Finally, we got to see VK in full flow and it augurs well for the final. He is a big match player with a very good record against Pak. His batting along with UV will be crucial to India's success.

  Pak. also did admirably against Eng. esp. their bowling. They used the conditions better and completely frustrated the English batsmen who are glorified flat track bullies. Pak. bowling has enough variety to trouble the Indian batsmen. The surface at Oval, a fresh one is likely to be flat (292 is the avg. score in the recent games) and the effectiveness of the Pak. bowling will be mitigated. Hasan Ali probably is the find of the tournament but the Indians did play him with much ease the first time around. Pak. bowlers have to get to the Indian middle order for this game to competitive, if not this could prove to be an one sided contest. Pak. has x-factors in Fakar Zaman, Faheem and Raees who did not play in the earlier clash. Fakar with his attacking style of play could pose some problems for the bowlers. He is clueless against short pitched bowling and Indians are bound to exploit this. Faheem is touted as the next Afridi :). Raees with his variations bowled very well in his debut against Eng.

  One of the biggest intangibles in knock-out games esp. finals is the ability to handle pressure and of late Ind. has the edge in this regard. Pak. almost look scared to play India. The toss could also prove vital (most games in CT 2017 won chasing) and Ind. would def. chase should they win. Interestingly given their chasing woes, Pak. under Sarfraz are also keen to chase. Would like to see if they would do so in a final. Anything over 250 will be a tricky proposition for Pak. to chase even on good batting surfaces.

 Hope it is a close contest with the Indian juggernaut rolling on. India will be '2peat champions.



My X1:

1) RG 2) SD 3) VK 4) MSD 5) UV 6) Kedar 7) Jad 8) Ash 9) Bhuvi 10) Bumrah 11) Shami

 Shami is a gamble given his fitness but his ability to reverse could be useful. His record against Pak. is also very good. On flat tracks, I believe slow blowers are more potent, hence Ash. gets the nod. Hardik's bowling has been a disappointment and should be left on the bench. Kedar like Sreesanth in the 2011 WC, looks to be a lucky charm and hence in the squad :)

Jai Hind !