19 September 2004	Sunday	03 Shaban 1425

BIRMINGHAM, Sept 18: A mixture of injuries and poor form may have left Indians unsteady on their feet but Saurav Ganguly's men are hoping to put up a superlative performance against arch rivals Pakistan in crucial match of ICC Champions Trophy on Sunday at Edgbaston.

India are battling poor form of Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh and are still trying to come to grips with injury-induced absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Lakshmipathy Balaji ahead of decisive Pool 'C' encounter against Pakistan, who have momentum going their way in recent weeks.

India lost to Pakistan in both Sri Lanka and in Holland in this new season and it would take an outstanding effort to turn tables on their traditional opponents on Sunday.

Indian captain Ganguly left for European tour believing his side has rarely done badly against arch-rivals outside the sub-continent but Pakistanis seem on a revision course.

Pakistan's talent was never in question but disparate elements in the team were their worst enemies. Now that it has been taken care of by new coach Bob Woolmer, results have started to come thick and fast.

Their strongest weapon remain their fast bowling ranks, which is seen as biggest threat on pitches in autumn in England.

The pace quartet of Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Abdul Razzaq and Rana Naveedul Hasan can reap rich rewards with white ball on pitches which are beginning to offer generous help to seam and swing in these final days of summer in England.

If that was not enough, two spinners - Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik - are fresh from their success against Kenya and remember too vividly what they did to the much-touted Indian batting line-up in Amsterdam last month.

The two spinners of contrasting styles picked up eight Kenyan wickets for 26 runs between them at this very venue earlier this week. In Amsterdam, the two had seven wickets for 38 runs bowling together against India.

Aiding their cause is poor form of Indian batsmen who, as recent tournaments have shown, either strike form collectively or lose it together and only a superlative performance by top order batsmen can cover up deficiency of Indians.

India are also indecisive whether to play Rohan Gavaskar or Dinesh Karthik at number seven spot. Indications are that the left-hand batsman will be preferred over the wicket-keeper in final eleven. It would also mean Rahul Dravid will return to his now familiar dual role of batsman/wicketkeeper.

India are also unsure whether to go with two medium-pacers and two spinners or stick to three plus one formula for their bowling combination. If indeed they decides to go with three fast bowlers on Sunday, Amit Bhandari could be pushing Ajit Agarkar for a place in eleven.

Pakistan in contrast has embarrassment of riches. Both their batting and bowling run deep and they have players who can perform more than one role for the team.

The batting line up is deep enough for Abdul Razzaq, one of the most fearsome hitter in world cricket, to come at number eight. In bowling they have at least six bowlers who can bowl their full quota of 10 overs.

They also are flexible enough to field either Imran Farhat or Shahid Afridi as opening partner to Yasir Hameed.

It is very much on cards though that Afridi could come at top of the order to snatch early initiative away from Indians.

Both captains - Ganguly and Inzamamul Haq - would like to win toss and put opposition in keeping in mind seamer-friendly conditions in first hour or so. The new ball has been seaming a lot in England and outcome match could largely depend on how opening batsmen cope with conditions and handle first 15 overs.

The city of Birmingham is on fire in anticipation for Sunday's match and everyone is hoping that rain would stay off and game would live up to its billing.

Every single seat was sold out within two hours of opening of sale two months ago. The scalpels and black marketers are selling a £35 ticket for £500 in the black.

Teams (from):

INDIA: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Vangipurappu Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Dinish Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Rohan Gavaskar, Amit Bhandari.

PAKISTAN: Inzamamul Haq (captain), Yasir Hameed, Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Yousuf Youhana, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Moin Khan, Rana Naveedul Hasan, Mohammad Sami, Shoaib Akhtar, Younis Khan, Salman Butt, Azhar Mahmood.

Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (South Africa) and Simon Taufel (Australia).

TV umpire: Steve Bucknor (West Indies).

Match referee: Clive Lloyd (West Indies).-Agencies