What

First of the two Twenty20 Internationals between India and Pakistan

When

Dec 25, 2012

Where

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.

Among the historic cricket venues in India, M Chinnaswamy Stadium has been the breeding ground for many illuminating careers. It was here that as the likes of GR Vishwanath, BS Chandrasekhar, ES Prasanna, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble honed their skills as kids. This is the very venue that witnessed the infamous Aamir Sohail-Venkatesh Prasad encounter when India and Pakistan battled in the 1996 World Cup semi-final.

The Teams

India may not be winning all their matches of late, but a fresh series and the chance to defeat their arch rivals is sure to bring a spring in their steps. In terms of form, and even skill, limited overs cricket has tended to bring the best out of the young guns of Team India, as was evidenced by their emphatic win over England at Pune. Although they lost the second T20I in Mumbai, the last-ball defeat will not dent their confidence too much. The one concern that MS Dhoni will have is the inexperience and uncertainty in the pace attack. After debutant Parvinder Awana was clobbered by the England batsmen, Ishant Sharma has been called up for this series. Dhoni will hope Ishant hits the ground running in his first limited-overs international game in 18 months.

Pakistan have come to Indian shores as a team after five years and the players are making no qualms about this being more than just a series of cricket matches for them. As Sohail Tanvir put it, when India play Pakistan in cricket, passion takes precedence over form and skill, resulting in exciting contests each time. In terms of team composition, both teams are at par when it comes to batting and spin bowling. However, Pakistan would feel they have the upper hand with a more experienced and settled pace bowling attack.

Key Players

Yuvraj Singh will be the key player for India in this series. Besides his shot-making in the middle order and more than handy four overs of left-arm spin, Yuvraj can match the passionate Pakistanis on the aggression meter too. Gautam Gambhir has told in the past – both with words and performance – that playing Pakistan brings out the best in him. The left-handed opener has shown glimpses of form of late. So, don’t be surprised if he sets this series on fire.

Saeed Ajmal is the best thing to have happened to Pakistan cricket in the recent times. Conquering Indian batting won’t be as easy a task for the off-spinner as it was when he played England. He could still be a threat for the batsmen who haven’t played him before. The presence of Shahid Afridi can never be undermined, and especially so when he’s up against the Indians.

Trivia

- Pakistan have played the most Twenty20 Internationals (64). They have also won the most (39).

- Top three wicket-takers in Twenty20 Internationals are all Pakistanis – Saeed Ajmal (69), Umar Gul (62) and Shahid Afridi (62).

- Yuvraj Singh is now India’s second most successful bowler (along with Harbhajan Singh) in Twenty20 Internationals with 22 wickets at an average of 14.77. Only Irfan Pathan is ahead of him with 28 wickets.

Venue Stats

1. Average first innings score at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium: 163

2. Average second innings score at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium: 145

3. Result summary at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium:

*Since this will be the first T20I match at this venue, the venue stats pertain to the IPL and CLT20 matches played at the M Chinnaswamy stadium.

Team stats

1. Head-to-head:

2. Form guide (most recent listed first):

India : Lost, Won, Won, Won, Lost (3 wins, 2 losses)

Pakistan: Lost, Won, Lost, Won, Won (3 wins, 2 losses)

The Squads

India: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma, Ashoke Dinda, Parvinder Awana, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Ali, Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Irfan, Nasir Jamshed, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Umar Amin, Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar