World Cup 2019, India vs Pakistan: Why Pakistan will win the match

In Match 22 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, India will lock horns against the arch-rivals Pakistan at Old Trafford in Manchester on Sunday.

In what will be one of the most anticipated games of this tournament, India will look to continue their dominance over Pakistan in World Cups, while the latter will want to break the jinx against India in World Cups.

The 'Men in Blue' currently enjoy a 6-0 win advantage in as many games between these two sides in the World Cup history and with an important encounter coming up, Pakistan will hope to re-create their top performance against India from the 2017 Champions Trophy title win.

The lead up to any India-Pakistan game has a different buzz associated with it, and given it is a World Cup match, the curiosity among fans is even more. The fact that Pakistan trounced India in their last encounter in England will be a huge morale booster for Sarfaraz and his men.

Though India will go in as favourites, the mercurial Pakistan side can beat any side on their day. They have shown signs of being unpredictable by coming second against West Indies and taking down the tournament favourites England in this World Cup.

The return in form of Mohammad Amir is a huge positive for Pakistan given the left-arm pacer has earned success against India in the past. Being the leading-wicket taker in the tournament so far, a lot will depend on Amir to produce early breakthroughs for his side.

The only concern for Pakistan happens to be their middle-order which succumbed under pressure even in their previous game against Australia. The likes of Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali and skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed haven't really provided the impetus in the back-end of the innings.

The form of the trio in Imam ul-Haq, Babar Azam and M Hafeez has been promising ahead of the high-octane clash against India. They did fail to get their side across the line against Australia, but will hold the key to do the bulk of scoring against India.

If Pakistan can bat first and post a total anyway near to 280-300, they will find the Indian batting in a spot of bother with an in-form bowling attack. With the return of Wahab Riaz and Amir along with leg-spinner Shadab Khan, the bowling attack looks menacing and can do the damage to even a star-studded Indian batting line-up.

This encounter is certain to be a mouth-watering contest, as it always is when these two sides meet. The fans would hope that the rain-gods are a little kind and they get to witness an edge of a seat thriller with entertainment throughout the whole contest.

Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on World cup points table, news, live scores, World Cup most wickets, schedule, most runs, and fantasy tips.