India take on arch-rivals Pakistan in the fourth match of The ICC Champions Trophy 2017 on 4th June at Edgbaston, Birmingham. This is a very important match for both the teams as they will be eager to start the campaign on a high. The Champions Trophy being a short and crisp tournament, it offers very little room for complacency because one slip up can put a team under severe pressure in their quest for a Semi-Final berth.
When it comes to playing against Pakistan in World Cups, India have always had the upper hand but surprisingly in case of The ICC Champions Trophy, Pakistan enjoys a 2-1 lead over The Men In Blue. The first of the two losses came in the 2004 edition, held in England where the match was played at the same venue, it's due to be played on Sunday, Edgbaston in Birmingham.
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| Pakistan’s Abdul Razzaq (left) collides with India’s Rahul Dravid while going for the ball during the ICC Champions Trophy match in 2004 at Edgbaston in Birmingham. |
India suffered their 2nd loss 5 years later, in the year 2009 when the two teams locked horns at Centurion. In that match Pakistan had emerged victorious by 53 runs. Pakistan had put up a massive 302/9 riding on Shoaib Malik's 126-ball 128 and Mohammad Yousuf's run-a-ball 87. Ashish Nehra picked four wickets for 55 and Ishant Sharma bagged 2 for 39 but the Pakistan batsmen were always on top. In reply, Rahul Dravid top scored with 76 while Gautam Gambhir made 57 but India folded up for 248 in 44.5 overs after Mohammad Amir, Naved-ul-Hasan, Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi picked up two wickets each.
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| Shahid Afridi celebrates after picking up the wicket of Rahul Dravid as Shoaib Malik becomes ecstatic Rahul Dravid feeling dejected |
However in 2013, India turned the tide in their favour to break the jinx with a resounding win. Put into bat, Pakistan were bundled out for a paltry 165 in 39.4 overs, thanks to some brilliant bowling and fielding by the young Indian side. Indian bowlers used the overcast conditions to good effect and created problems for Pakistani batting line-up to accelerate the scoring rate. Rain took away some sheen off the contest but India achieved the revised target of 102 off 22 overs in just 19.1 overs for the loss of two wickets, courtesy Shikhar Dhawan's 48 and useful contributions from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
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| A baffled Misbah looks on as his bails get dislodged. MS Dhoni can't hide his excitement at the back |
The upcoming June 4 encounter has created a lot of hype, as any Indo-Pak clash does. It remains to be seen which team handles the nerves better on the D-Day. So, it promises to be another classic between the two Asian Giants.
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