U19 World Cup 2014 Match Preview: India vs Pakistan (Group A)

Indian U19 team which won the world cup in the last edition

It will be one of the most awaited and most watched contests of the tournament as arch rivals India and Pakistan engage in a face-off in the 7th game of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2014, at the Dubai International Cricket stadium on February 15. The game starts at 5:30 AM GMT or 9:00 AM local time (11:00 AM IST). This 10th edition of the tournament, which started on February 14, will have its final on March 1.

This venue is important as far as the fixtures are concerned, as both the semi-finals and the final will be played here. It has a capacity of 25,000 people and is one of the top-notch stadiums in the world. It has the famous lighting system called the ‘Ring of Fire’, which illuminates the stadium through lights that are hung at the circumference of the round stadium roof right overhead.

As far as the conditions go, the weather is expected to be partly cloudy to fairly sunny, with comfortable temperatures around 25°C and humidity that will not go above 40%. In short, there will be perfect conditions for cricket.

India have won the world cup thrice (2000, 2008 and 2012) and Pakistan have managed the feat twice (2004 and 2006). It is bound to be a mouth-watering contest between these two sides, which are definitely among the favourites to lift the cup this time, as well. Both India and Pakistan were up against each other at this venue in the ACC Asia Cup match that Pakistan won by 2 wickets. It was India, however, who emerged victorious in the tournament, defeating Pakistan by 40 runs in the final. The Indian team might be a little low on confidence after losing both their practice matches, while Pakistan will be psychologically ahead in this regard, having won both as they defeated Australia by 38 runs and the UAE by 10 wickets.

The other two teams in Group A are Scotland and Papua New Guinea, and, therefore, it is obvious that the team that wins tomorrow will have a clear advantage and a great chance of progressing to the subsequent rounds of the series.

Among the players to watch out for, India will rely heavily on skipper Vijay Zol, Sanju Samson and Akhil Herwadkar to deliver the goods as far as batting is concerned, while Kuldeep Yadav and Deepak Hooda will be expected take care of taking the wickets and keeping the run-rate in check. Pakistan, on the other hand, have a fine batsman and leader in Sami Aslam. Imam Ul Haq, Hasan Raza and Kamran Ghulam will be the other known batters, while the bowling will be led by Zia Ul Haq, Muhammad Aftab and Ammad Butt.

Squads:

India

Vijay Zol (Captain), Ricky Bhui, Deepak Hooda, Aamir Gani, Ankush Bains, CV Milind, Monu Kumar, Sanju Samson, Avesh Khan, Akhil Herwadkar, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Karan Kaila, Kuldeep Yadav, Atit Sheth.

Pakistan

Sami Aslam (Captain), Imam Ul Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Hassan Raza Khan, Saud Shakeel, Imran Rafiq, Ameer Hamza, Zia Ul Haq, Irfan Shah, Muhammad Aftab, Zafar Gohar, Karamat Ali, Saifullah Khan, Muhammad Umair, Ammad Butt