Big match tomorrow, India Vs Pakistan ODI. I think India will win since they have acclimatised to the British Isles while Pakistan have not. Mohammad Asif may be a major threat though since his seam movement may flourish in Scotish conditions with plenty of rain recently, the surface of the pitch will certainly be moist. I think Ishant Sharma should play in the match in for RP Singh, RP Singh has not been spectacular and I think it will be a good test for Ishant. Else, if he performs bad or shows no promise, he should be given a few more years to develop. That being said, I have no idea which squad will be used for the game - most likely the South Africa and Ireland ODI squad.
As for the game, I feel that if Ganguly and Sachin can survive the new ball onslaught by Asif and Shoaib, they should win the match (or at least score over 250) as Asif has proved innefective without the new ball in ODIs and Shoaib without swing is just extra pace on the ball to score runs off. The other Pakistan bowlers should no pose a threat if played sensibly. Umar Gul will be the main of those bowlers and he can make the ball talk at times, but if treated with caution, he does provide the odd bad ball which can go for four.
As for Indian bowling, I feel that if Zaheer and Agarkar can pose the same new ball threat they have provided through the Future Cup, they should look to make dents in the top order. As for Chawla, he must use more flight and careful use of variations rather than his farely orthodox approach of good length balls followed by googly after googly. A subtle touch is key regarding the googly, especially when he has one so deadly.
The often forgotten aspect of fielding will also be critical. Several catches went down in the Future Cup and some were extremely costly. A perfect example being Kemp dropped under 20 and went on to make the game competitive for South Africa where they were initially struggling to make 120. Cold hands and glum conditions make it hard to be 'up for fielding' but in such low scoring games, those 20 or 30 runs saved in the field could prove vital.
...with James's permission of course.
) that have been what I'd call good seam-friendly wickets.
