India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

Harbhajan Singh and Virat Kohli can barely contain their glee, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai

India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai

Tomorrow. Across India and Sri Lanka, separated by a stretch of water and a well-concealed rivalry, the word carries with it the forceful belief of possibility, shared between men and women, board room and assembly line, students and teachers, cops and crooks. The players, in their hotel rooms next to the Gateway of India, tussle against the idea of tomorrow, constantly reminding themselves to keep everything light: food, conversation, thoughts.

In a long, corkscrewing, exhausting World Cup, this suddenly becomes the best of times. Everyone involved in the World Cup final cannot escape the passing thought about how everything that they have done till now - picking up a bat or a ball, their first century, their first five-for - has telescoped into these hours. When it's done late on Saturday night, the champion will be swept away by adrenaline, the loser by regret.

Today, though, before it all begins, they will all feel like winners.

Just around noon on Friday, MS Dhoni and Kumar Sangakkara descended from staircases, on either side of the sightscreen at the pavilion end of the Wankhede Stadium, to come together for an official photograph. They will walk down the same staircases for the toss on Saturday, knotted inside, their sang-froid a mere mask. On Friday, though, they were at ease; relaxed; Sri Lankan and Indian, lean and brawny, joking during the photo shoot, together hanging on to an 11kg silver and gold trophy that only one of them will be entitled to lift tomorrow. Maybe even the trophy was relieved; there were rumours it had been detained by Mumbai customs upon arrival.

Sangakkara spoke of a state of "controlled excitement" in the Sri Lankan dressing room, but he could have been speaking for everyone. Dhoni, usually glib, and often on auto-pilot with his media-conference replies, did have his Captain Cool cape on, but even he seemed a bit respectful of where he finds himself, "20 or 14 hours before the start of the game." Like he has always done, he will stay away from the bowlers meeting on Friday night, saying it helps him formulate his own alternative plans, if the bowling begins to fray on the field the next day.

He is happy that India have had a short and sharp two-day gap between the semi-finals and the final, saying it "helps you to not think too much." In the packed media conference room where both captains' press conferences were held, Dhoni and Sangakkara accepted that the contest had a greater meaning than the cliched "normal match". No matter what the price of the final tickets or how small the stadium, Dhoni said he knew every Indian would be watching. Sangakkara said victory would bring joy to a troubled nation, remembering those "who had down their lives for our country."

Dhoni reminded a foreign reporter of the truths of Indian cricket, telling him he had been swapping channels and saw footage of celebrations outside his house after the semi-final. "Not to forget that was the very house where in 2007 a few other things also happened, but that's what happens in India, so it's better to be at your best," he said alluding to the attack on his house after India's last World Cup campaign ended in disappointment.

India's best in this World Cup has slowly gained strength in the knockout rounds in contrast to how comfortably the Sri Lankans have gone. The lack of anxiety en route to the finals has not made Sangakkara anxious though. "It is hard to say which one of them is better for us [winning comfortably or through tough games]. We are happy that we are here. We have had to win games; we didn't get any walkovers in our journey here. We are pretty confident of the fact that we have been one of the best sides of the tournament."

The rivalry between India and Sri Lanka is neither as old as England-Australia, nor as fervent as India-Pakistan. Its ferocity lies not in its history, nor in the actual contest, but among its fans and the growing animosity among its diaspora. In the past three years, the India v Sri Lanka fixture has been repeated so often that it can leave the most diligent of watchers wondering, in jest, about what on earth could make this an occasion.

It was Sangakkara who spelt it out, saying the subcontinent, and the teams that represent it, is the "best place" to play cricket. "No other place can match the buzz, the hype, the excitement around the game. When you play a tournament of this magnitude here, it kind of lifts the entire occasion, makes that occasion a lot more glorious."

 

India v Pakistan, 2nd semi-final, World Cup 2011, Mohali

India v Pakistan, 2nd semi-final, World Cup 2011, Mohali

  

The Big Picture

Beyond the hype this contest can perhaps be best viewed through the prism of the two captains. Shahid Afridi is the passionate, exhibitionist leader who doesn't mind showing his emotions on the field. He will shout, cajole, plead, laugh, roar and feel every pulsating moment of the contest. It's exactly what this Pakistan team needs after all those controversies, someone who can remind them of the school-boyish joy that this game can provide.

MS Dhoni is the uber-cool captain and, while he can be vocal while dealing with the press, he is almost invisible on the field. Silent nods of appreciation, a quiet word in the ear, calm instructions, a shrug of the shoulder is all you will get from him. And again, it's what this star-heavy team needs. Someone who can be calm and remind them of the basics of the game.

Pakistan - who told their players they could be here in the semi-finals? - almost renews itself with each crisis. That's how it has been always: Controversies. Paralysis. Rebirth. Success. And more controversies. This was a big tournament for the survival of Misbah-ul-Haq, in the middle of a great comeback. In a sense, the spot-fixing saga and its sordid aftermath was actually a blessing in disguise since it paved the way for his return. For Younis Khan, too, survival instinct, as a batsman facing a dip in form before the tournament, would have helped in dealing with that crisis. Playing his last tournament, Shoaib Akhtar knew this was the time to let his game do the talking. And for that man Afridi, mentally almost perennially young, this was the best chance to dazzle on the biggest stage. He has taken that chance and led the team with great passion. Kamran Akmal lives and breathes in amnesia. Bad memories don't haunt him - who else could have recovered so well after that nightmarish effort against New Zealand?

And yet nothing much has changed with the way they play cricket on the field. It's still the bowlers who win the games for them. For all that is mercurial about them, Pakistan have lost just one game in this tournament.

India have occasionally limped, at times choked, sometimes dazzled, before beating Australia to reach to the semi-finals. The progress card has the bowlers in the red, the batsmen guilty of not finishing the job, and the fielding has always been almost beyond redemption. Their mode of progress should actually have freed them up in some ways. The batsmen must have realised that they can't try too hard to cover up for their bowlers' weakness, by trying to pile on too much, with the batting Powerplay pulling the rug from under their feet a few times. The bowlers showed they are learning from the serial hiding by putting up a pretty disciplined effort against Australia. In some ways, the pressure must be off them, as not many would be surprised if they leak 300 runs.

It's the batting India depend on. Is there any chink in it barring those Powerplay debacles? Gautam Gambhir hasn't been at his personal best - were he playing at his optimum, he would have rendered Virat Kohli superfluous at No. 4. Yet Gambhir's slightly iffy form has made Kohli vital in that middle order. Prior to the tournament, it was felt that Kohli would be a misfit in the lower order, where Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan would be more dangerous, and that he might be wasted even further up. But Gambhir hasn't been at his fluent best and India have turned to Kohli to take them through the middle overs. Gambhir has always raised his game against Pakistan and his form will be crucial on Wednesday as it would then give the middle order the licence to attack.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)

India WWLWWPakistan WWWLW

Watch out for...

Virender Sehwag In the past few games Sehwag has - curiously, for a batsman so wonderfully innovative as him - tried to hit every spinner through the off side. He would back away and try to drive, slice or cut and has fallen a few times in the process. Pakistan might well have a spinner bowling at him early and it will be fascinating to see whether Sehwag will retain that off-side bias or be more inclusive, and open, in his approach.

Umar Gul's yorkers: After Lasith Malinga, Gul has probably the best control over the yorker in world cricket today. There have of course been days when the radar has been awry but more often than not he has got them right. The Indian lower middle order will be fully tested by the yorkers, slower ones and the bouncers that he loves to bowl.

Sachin Tendulkar v Abdul Razzaq: Bowlers like Hansie Cronje and Razzaq, more than the Umar Guls and the Shoaib Akhtars, have been reasonably successful against Tendulkar. Cronje used to tease Tendulkar with deliveries shaping away from a length outside off while Razzaq specialises in the opposite: he slides the ball back in, looking for that lbw. He hasn't always had success, but it will be a mini-battle worth watching. Will Tendulkar opt for all-out attack or will he bat with relative care against Razzaq?

Zaheer Khan v Kamran Akmal: Kamran loves to square drive and Zaheer has been able to bend the ball back in to the right-hand batsmen this tournament with the new ball. This contest should be fun.

Umar Akmal v spin: India will rely a lot on the slow bowlers during the middle overs, and Umar is the middle-order batsman who loves to attack spin. He has laid into the likes of Daniel Vettori on the tour of New Zealand and is always itching to cut and slog-sweep.

Team news

The signs are that Ashish Nehra is likely to replace Munaf Patel. Even Yusuf Pathan has been sweating it out in the nets raising speculations that he might push R Ashwin hard for a spot in the team. Ashwin has been really good in the games he has played and has added some teeth to the attack while the nature of the patta track has made India think about bringing in Yusuf.

India (probable): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Suresh Raina, 8 Yusuf Pathan / R Ashwin, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish Nehra

Pakistan are thinking of playing three seamers. The choice of the third seamer is between Shoaib and Wahab Riaz. Afridi said Shoaib wasn't 100% fit today but a decision will be taken on the evening preceding the match.

Pakistan (probable) 1 Kamran Akmal (wk), 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Saeed Ajmal / Abdur Rehman, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Wahab Riaz / Shoaib Akhtar.

Try picking the XIs for tomorrow's game by playing Team Selector.

Pitch and conditions

It's a batting pitch but what's eating up everyone is the dew factor. Read here for a report on the pitch.

Heavy storms, lightning and rain lashed Chandigarh late on Tuesday evening, immediately adding a light shroud of doubt over the game. For the whole day there were no signs, not even a hint of rain playing a spoil-sport but around 9PM, there were rumbling sounds of thunder accompanied by high-speed winds. The velocity of the winds were so strong that the heavy iron barricades manning the team hotel were blown away.

The weather forecast for Wednesday suggests sunshine during the day with minimal chance of heavy rain. Punjab Cricket Association officials said that they had studied the forecasts for the period ending March 31 and there was "zero precipitation" expected. In simple terms, there were no strong rains expected on the day of the match.

Stats and trivia

Afridi is the first bowler in World Cup history to take four wickets in a match on four different occasions in a tournament.

MS Dhoni is the only wicket-keeper captain who has played in 100 ODIs.

Zaheer Khan is the second Indian bowler after Javagal Srinath (44 wickets) to take more than 40 wickets in World Cups.

For more stats click here

Quotes

"I feel I have been batting really well. It is just that in some situation I could not bat flamboyantly. If you bat at 5, 6 or 7, and if the top order does really well, it does not give opportunity to lower-order batsmen. The last game was an ideal game where I could have got a bit more runs which were needed at that point of time. So form has been a worry it is just that sometimes there were not many opportunities and when there was an opportunity and there were times I was not able to score in a particular game".

 

India v Pakistan, 2nd semi-final, World Cup 2011, Mohali

India v Pakistan, 2nd semi-final, World Cup 2011, Mohali

Games don't come much bigger than an India v Pakistan World Cup semi-final, so it's no surprise Mohali, which will host the match on March 30, has become the most sought-after destination in India. The Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh will be there, and so will industry heavyweights, and IPL franchise owners, Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallya. Not only is there a mad scramble for tickets on the black market, but all the hotels are reportedly booked within a 25-kilometre radius and there is even a shortage of parking space at the airport for those with private planes.

The stakes for the game were raised (as if a place in the World Cup final was not enough) on Friday when Singh sent a note to Pakistan prime minister Yousuf Gilani, and president Asif Zardari, inviting them both to the contest, the first such gesture since the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.

"I propose to be at Mohali to watch the World Cup semi-final match between India and Pakistan to be held on 30th March," the note said. "There is huge excitement over the match and we are all looking forward to a great game of cricket that will be a victory for sport. It gives me great pleasure to invite you to visit Mohali and join me and the millions of fans from our two countries to watch the match."