The first one day International (ODI) between India and Pakistan will be played today in Chennai. After sharing the T20 series both the teams are about to play 3 ODI’s. This will be the first match for Team India post Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement – exactly a week after he announced his retirement. India the current World Champions in this format would be banking on their decent form having won 9 out of 15 matches played this year. Also the return of Yuvraj Singh who is all set to play his 1st ODI since the 2011 World Cup and his current form with the bat and ball will give the team a huge relief. But for Pakistan except the Asia Cup win, they had a worst year in this format having lost 10 out of 16.
Can India regain top spot in ODIs?
The match will be played at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai where Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar scored his ODI career best of 194 against India in 1997. This match also will be India’s only ODI match to be played at home this year as all their series played so far were away (Australia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka). India currently World No. 3 in ICC ODI Rankings will have a chance to re-gain the No. 1 Ranking if they manage to defeat Pakistan in today’s match. A 3-0 clean sweep will place them in the top spot comfortably with 123 points. But even a single match loss will push India back to the current 3rd position. For Pakistan a 3-0 series win will push them from 6th to 5th with 110 points. Virender Sehwag who was out for both the T20 Series against England and Pakistan will be opening along with Gautam Gambhir, bowling all-rounder Bhuvneshwar Kumar might make his debut after an impressive performance in the 1st T20 in Bangalore. Pakistan retained Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Irfan for the ODI’s after their good performance in T20’s.
Above all, weather threatens big to spoil as it has been raining in the city since Friday and the weather forecast shows more rains likely today. Fans will be hoping the rains to stop as most of the tickets have been sold for today’s match. Will rain spoil the match? Can India win this match and claim the World No. 1 ranking in ODI’s? Can Pakistan win this match and end their poor ODI performance this year on a high? Whatever the result may be, presence of Sachin Tendulkar will definitely be missed!
Tags: Chennai, Cricket, India, MA Chidambaram Stadium, ODI, ODI Cricket, Pakistan, Yuvraj Singh
