Powered India begin to go all out against Pak

Karachi: Hectic schedule or not, India skipper Mahendra Dhoni would be looking to defeat Pakistan in their Asia Cup Super Four match here on Wednesday to ensure a berth in the final.

A three-day break after back-to-back matches gives no reason to complain even though there is still doubt over whether Irfan Pathan will be able to play.

The depth that Irfan provides to the team may not be needed the way the top order has been faring despite having to play so many matches.

Highlights of the Match

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2.Short Highlights

"It was tough out there for us. But I am happy we have kept going. Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag have batted really well in the tournament and I hope they keep going," Dhoni had said.

Raina has scored two centuries while Sehwag and Gambhir have continued the fine form that they showed in the Indian Premier League. Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni and Rohit Sharma too would be looking to come up with notable performances.

The unhelpful tracks though have left the bowling attack look pedestrian, having gone for 299 runs against Pakistan and 284 against Bangladesh.

Ishant Sharma has been unable to work up the kind of pace he is known for and RP Singh and Praveen Kumar too have done well in patches.

For Pakistan, the challenge is to gel well as a team. Despite winning the final of the Bangladesh tri-series last month, they have looked a fragmented side.

Skipper Shoaib Malik and coach Geoff Lawson have made known their differences with selectors over selection matters and that is not something that will go down well with any team member. One will only have to wait and see if Pakistan are able to deliver once again when performances are most needed.

Teams (from):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Manpreet Gony, Ishant Sharma, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Praveen Kumar.

Pakistan: Shoaib Malik (captain), Misbah-ul-Haq, Fawad Alam, Iftikhar Anjum, Mansoor Amjad, Mohammad Yousuf, Nasir Jamshed, Saeed Ajmal, Salman Butt, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz, Younis Khan.