India and Pakistan will clash against each other in the second semi final of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Wednesday, March 30. India got through after beating Australia comfortably while Pakistan were the first to qualify by thrashing a hapless West Indies side.
This is the game of the tournament as the two arch rivals go head to head. This will be the first time the two sides would meet in a semi final of the world cup and it is expected to be a high voltage clash. Pakistan would want to erase that record of no wins against India in World Cups, while the pressure would be on India to maintain that perfect record.
The two sides have completely contrasting strengths. India have clearly been the best batting side in the tournament, with three of its players crossing the 300 runs mark. Sachin Tendulkar leads the pack and is closely followed by Virendar Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh.
Pakistan meanwhile, does not have a centurion in the tournament and has relied on collective efforts in all the games. However, they have an impressive bowling unit, with Shahid Afridi leadind the wickets column, with 21 scalps to his name. India, meanwhile, have struggled as a bowling unit and only have Zaheer Khan as the stand out performer.
The pitch at Mohali is expected to be good for batting and is not expected to offer a lot of turn. However, the pitch is likely to slow down as the game goes on but the dew factor could help the team batting side.
It is very difficult to separate these two sides and all the statistics and history go for a toss when they get on to the field on Wednesday. This game is more important than the final itself for these two sides and the team that can handle the pressure well is likely to come out on top.
Players to look out for: India: One gets the sense that while the big ticket players will be expected to do well, how well does Virat Kohli go with the bat and how many wickets can R Ashwin take with the ball could be the difference between winning and losing.
Pakistan: It will be the middle-order pair of Misbah ul Haq and Younis Khan who will look to make the runs and carry the side home against a side which does not have the bowling to test the opponents in the middle overs.
Road to Semi-Final: India: beat Bangladesh, tied with England, lost to South Africa, beat Ireland, beat Netherlands, beat West Indies in group stage, beat Australia in quarter-final.
Pakistan: beat Kenya, beat Sri Lanka, beat Canada, lost to New Zealand, beat Zimbabwe, beat Australia in group stage, beat West Indies in quarter-final
Previous World Cup record: India 216/7 beat Pakistan 173 in 1992 World Cup India 287/8 beat Pakistan 248/9 in 1996 World Cup India 227/6 beat Pakistan 180 in 1999 World Cup Pakistan 273/7 lost to India 274/4 in 2003 World Cup