March 1, 2003	Saturday	Zul Hijjah 27, 1423

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CENTURION (South Africa), Feb 28: It’s a day of judgement for the struggling Pakistan side when they take on old foes India in the World Cup Group ‘A’ tie, described here as the mother of all battles, at Supersport Park on Saturday.

It is a match Pakistan simply can’t afford to lose. Another defeat means almost certain elimination from the competition for this highly unpredictable team.

In sharp contrast, India are riding high after their demoralising defeat against Australia on this same ground exactly two weeks ago. Saurav Ganguly’s men have virtually booked their place in the Super Six stage after three straight victories since then.

Meanwhile, for Waqar Younis’ beleaguered outfit there is no way out except to win and win convincingly, not only against India but also with Zimbabwe on Tuesday, to have any realistic chance of joining Australia and India in the second phase of the sport’s biggest showpiece.

One key element that could decide the fate of this eager-awaited encounter is the weather, which is unsettled at the time of filing this report. Thunderstorms and heavy rains lashed the area on Friday afternoon and the forecast is for more rain on Saturday.

Before the start of the competition, Pakistan were rated one of the favourites for the title. Unfortunately, nothing seems have to gone right for Pakistan, who have been badly let down by a string of failures by their multi-faceted players.

Pakistan, so far, have been found wanting in all three departments — batting, bowling and fielding — as the big guns failed to do justice to their talents.

Arguably, the biggest disappointment is the mystifying figure of Inzamam-ul-Haq, who has scored just 10 runs in four matches, including ducks in his last two visits to the crease.

Similarly, a lot was expected of fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar. So far the Rawalpindi Express has done nothing of note and a lack of penetration in the middle of the innings contributed largely towards Australia and England being let off the hook.

Not for the first time, Wasim Akram is left alone to carry Pakistan’s hopes on his broad shoulders. Fresh from his phenomenal achievement of becoming the only bowler to cross the dizzy height of 500 wickets in One-day Internationals, the great left-arm paceman is one man India fear.

India, on the other hand, have everything going for them. Sachin Tendulkar, easily the best batsman on show, is in ominous form, top-scoring in each of the first three games and then making 50 off 52 balls against England that laid the foundation of a great win.

India also revealed a new hero on Wednesday night in the shape of Ashish Nehra, who overcame a niggling ankle injury to prise out six England batsmen in a dream spell. Together with experienced duo of Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan, India have a potent pace attack to match the Pakistani trio of Wasim Akram, Shoaib and Waqar.

History is also not in favour of Pakistan — who incredibly lead head-to-head meetings with India with 52 wins against 29 defeats in 85 matches — as India won all three World Cup encounters against them.

However, the last time these two sides clashed, in the Asia Cup in Dhaka in June 2000, Pakistan won hands down. But all these results do not count. What counts is the outcome of Saturday’s tie.

Meanwhile, rival captains on Friday tried to down play the high expectations generated by this fixture.

Ganguly, not surprisingly, was upbeat when he said it would be just another match and “it will be our endeavour to bag four points, so vital in Super Six round”.

Ganguly did agree that it was an important match and ties between the two countries were always keenly anticipated and Saturdays clash would be no exception.

Waqar admitted that it was a do-or-die situation for the team. “We are well aware of the importance of this match. Sure we have not performed upto our potential so far. Tomorrow provides the ideal opportunity to put us back on course for a place in the next stage,” he said.

India are expected to stick to the eleven that outclassed England. But there could be surprises in store in the Pakistan line-up considering the weird decisions made in the past by the tour selectors. But one change that is certain is the inclusion of Younis Khan at the expense of Saleem Elahi. Younis missed the last match against Holland due to an injury.

Teams (from):

PAKISTAN: Waqar Younis (captain), Saeed Anwar, Taufiq Umar, Saleem Elahi, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Wasim Akram, Rashid Latif, Mohammad Sami, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq,

INDIA: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Dinesh Mongia, Parthiv Patel, Sanjay Bangar, Ajit Agarkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif.

Umpires: David Shepherd (England) and Rudi Koertzen (South Africa).

TV umpire: Billy Bowden (New Zealand).

Match referee: Mike Procter (South Africa).