ICC World Cup 2015: India v Pakistan - 5 things to look forward to

The mother of all battles is here. Two nations unified and divided by history will face each other at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. If the ticket sales are anything to go by, it’s going to be a full house. And a neutral venue implies proportionate representation of both the countries. India has history in their favour, Pakistan has unpredictability.Ever since the tournament started in 1975, it’s going to be the first World Cup for both these nations that will neither have Javed Miandad nor Sachin Tendulkar playing in it. Here are five things to look forward to, come February 15...

#1 Stats Attack

Out of the 126 ODIs that India and Pakistan have played each other in, Pakistan have a clear advantage with 72 wins as opposed to India’s 50. However, the moment one brings the World Cup into the picture, this dominance goes for a toss.

Starting 1992 Sydney, India have never lost a single game to Pakistan in a World Cup. No matter how dilapidated or strong the Indian side has been. There’ve been five games that these two subcontinent giants have played, and India have won each of those. It’s interesting to know that in all the five games, the team that won the toss, batted – with Pakistan having batted first only once, at Centurion in 2003.

Sachin Tendulkar is the highest scorer in India-Pakistan encounters at the World Cup, having scored 313 at 78.25 from the five games that he has played. Quite astonishingly, the player with a hundred international hundreds does not have a single century to boast of against Pakistan in this marquee event.

#2 Playing Field

India and Pakistan have played at the Adelaide Oval only once before, way back in early 2000. It was the 9th match of the Carlton & United Series, and Sachin Tendulkar elected to bat first after winning the toss. Led by an imposing 141 from Sourav Ganguly, India posted 267 on the board before dismissing Pakistan for 219 within 45 overs.

The Adelaide Oval has been a happy hunting ground for India, as they have won 7 out of the 13 games (with one being a no-result) that they have played there between 1980 and 2012. Pakistan, on the other hand, have had a shambolic record at this quaint ground in South Australia. Between 1981 and 2010, Pakistan played 15 games at Adelaide, winning just three and losing eleven.

The silver lining though is the fact that Pakistan’s only no-result game at Adelaide came during the 1992 World Cup match against England, where rain intervened to keep them alive in the tournament. A tournament that they subsequently won.

#3 Wahab Riaz\'s tryst with destiny

In the only World Cup game, that Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz has played against India, he picked up five wickets at nine a piece and nearly stopped India’s charge to the final in 2011. He is now joint third in the all-time list of highest wicket-takers in India-Pakistan encounters in the World Cup, behind Venkatesh Prasad (8), Javagal Srinath (7) and tied with Anil Kumble (5) and Mushtaq Ahmed (5).

Come Sunday, the 29-year old from Lahore has a realistic chance of displacing Prasad as the leading wicket-taker. The two warm-up games that Riaz has played before the World Cup has just brought him two wickets, but arch rivals might just bring the best out of him.

#4 Rohit Sharma\'s debut

Rohit Sharma has had to wait 127 ODIs, 3890 runs, four 100’s and two double hundreds to finally get a World Cup game for India. The last time around, the batsman from Mumbai narrowly missed out to a controversial decision to pick leggie Piyush Chawla. This time, however, he is one of the mainstays of the Indian batting line-up and a lot is expected out of him if India are to do well.

Although a disappointment in the Test matches, Rohit has made all the right noises ahead of this mega-encounter. He scored 138 against Australia at Melbourne during the recently concluded tri-series and followed it up with a counter-attacking 150 against Afghanistan in a warm-up game. He will have to deliver his best if India are to make it 6 out of 6.

#5 Key Battle: India\'s batsmen vs Mohammad Irfan

Between the 2011 edition and now, Pakistan’s Mohammad Irfan has picked up 57 wickets at an average of 28.57. Considering that a bulk of these wickets has come against quality opposition like South Africa and New Zealand – Irfan will be Pakistan’s most potent threat in the absence of Junaid Khan.

Hence it makes for exciting viewing, how India’s superstar batsmen led by Virat Kohli deal with this 7 feet tall fast-bowling giant. The last we checked, Indian batsmen were taking throwdowns from coaches who were standing on an elevated platform. India’s susceptibility to short-pitched bowling is no secret, have the palpitations started? Only time will tell.