Cracker of a match expected today

Shubman Gill is recovering well post dengue and if he is ready to do to Shaheen what he did in the Asia Cup in Colombo with those half a dozen fours in Powerplay, then half the job of deflating Pakistanis would be done; Rohit Sharma says that there is 99 per cent chance of star batter Gill playing against Pakistan

Rohit Sharma's poise, Virat Kohli's intensity and Jasprit Bumrah's cerebral artistry make India overwhelming favourites against arch-rivals Pakistan in the World Cup match here on Saturday that has a compelling socio-political context, implications of which transcend beyond the 22-yards. On paper, India is a far superior side and with a batting line-up filled with alpha-male characters, it will all depend on how well left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi's first spell pans out as the cross-border neighbours might not be short on intent but certainly in terms of ammunition.

But this is a match where emotional quotients play a role and it has created heroes and villains in equal measure over the years. Ask Javed Miandad and Chetan Sharma, Saleem Malik and Maninder Singh, Ajay Jadeja and Waqar Younis, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Saqlain Mushtaq, Sachin Tendulkar and Shoaib Akhtar, Virat Kohli and Wahab Riaz, Joginder Sharma and Misbah ul Haq (albeit in T20 WC), as this contest is replete with examples of agony and ecstasy, unbridled joy and heart-breaks of a lifetime, which never seem to find closure. Shaheen in Urdu means 'King of Birds' and Rohit won't mind clipping his wings at the earliest inside an imposing amphitheatre that can house 132,000 people. Shubman Gill is recovering well post dengue and if he is ready to do to Shaheen what he did in the Asia Cup in Colombo with those half a dozen fours in Powerplay, then half the job of deflating Pakistanis would be done.

Rohit Sharma said that there is "99 per cent change" of star batter Shubman Gill playing against Pakistan. Mohammed Rizwan was phenomenal against Sri Lanka and Abdullah Shafique showed his class. There is Saud Shakeel, who can be an 'x-factor' on a given day.