EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THE HINDU DELHI SUNDAY, JUNE 16, 2019 SPORT 17 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Another episode of the riveting duel primed to unfold India will strive to maintain its total dominance against Pakistan; the weather, oscillating between sunshine and drizzle, may have a say ween sunshine and drizzle. ranks, Mohammad Amir and Pakistan coach Mickey Ar­ Wahab Riaz can test the best. ‘It will rain at 3 p.m. thur said that the pitch The decks are cleared, Old seemed brown but the exist­ Trafford will be packed and a ing atmospheric conditions massive television audience during the match’ might force the outfits to would further enhance the reinforce their respective contest’s halo. pace­quotient. It remains to Local cab driver’s weather prediction be seen if Virat Kohli would prefer Mohammed Shami ov­ K.C. Vijaya Kumar brooding darkness and er Kuldeep Yadav. Manchester that remains the Following Shikhar Dha­ K.C. Vijaya Kumar Manchester Exactly at 10.37 a.m., backdrop for Sunday’s wan’s left­thumb injury, In­ lumbering clouds parted much­anticipated World dia will step in with K.L. Ra­ Match­preview days for ways and through the Cup clash between India hul and Rohit Sharma atop sports scribes are all about gap, the sun, glorious in and Pakistan. the batting tree. Since a mid­ quelling the nerves, figuring its light and warmth, It rained here late on dle­order slot opens up due out the venue’s practice streaked in. Another Friday night, an insistent to Rahul’s elevation, both Di­ pitches where the teams episode of the fickle shower drenching nesh Karthik and Vijay Shan­ train and identifying the English summer was back commuters and cascading kar are in the reckoning. press box. Just as some In­ in play at Old Trafford down ancient homes and Kohli’s resources on display, dian cricket writers trudged while Virat Kohli’s men dilapidated factories. The in the games against South into Old Trafford, the setting trained here on Saturday. forecast for D­Day is: Africa and Australia, seemed for Sunday’s high­octane Rishabh Pant, who “light rain showers and a turbo­charged. Even if the The teams (from): World Cup game involving joined the squad as a moderate breeze.” washed­out Trent Bridge India: Virat Kohli (Capt.), Rohit India and Pakistan, a car stand­by, wore multiple The lone relief is that it tussle against New Zealand Sharma, M.S. Dhoni, K.L. Rahul, slowed down on the adjacent layers of apparel and doesn’t look as grim as it was a dampener, the Men in Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, road. heated his gloves with the did at Nottingham where Blue are better placed unlike Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, thud of the white ball the game involving India a Pakistan that reiterated its Vijay Shankar, Jasprit Bumrah, Lingering confusion delivered by either Jasprit and New Zealand was perennial adjective: ‘mercu­ Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mo- The youngster at the steer­ Bumrah or Yuzvendra washed out on Thursday. rial’. hammed Shami, Yuzvendra ing­wheel leaned towards the Chahal. Just as the But ominously, as a group Sarfaraz Ahmed’s men Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and window, rolled down the bowlers wheeled their of cricket writers reached slumped against the West In­ Shikhar Dhawan. glass and said: “Whether we arms over, albeit gently, the venue, the cab driver dies, upset a fancied En­ Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed win the World Cup or not, the weather gods wavered said: “Trust me, it will gland, fumed over a washed­ (Capt.), Asif Ali, Babar Azam, doesn’t matter, but please between bright rain at 3 p.m., during the out fixture against Sri Lanka Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Ha- win tomorrow’s game.” Soon luminescence and match.” and then succumbed to Aus­ san Ali, Imad Wasim, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz, Imam-ul- he merged with Saturday’s Happy frame: Virat Kohli will have every reason to be upbeat going into the Pakistan game. * AP tralia. Still, this is a unit that Haq, Mohammad Amir, Moham- morning traffic but confu­ includes robust batsmen like mad Hafeez, Mohammad Has- sion lingered. Did he speak in realise the nationality of the slights, sibling rivalry and where the sub­continental emotions swirled around the while, is referring to its ‘2017 Imam­ul­Haq, Fakhar Za­ nain, Shadab Khan and Shaheen Hindi or Urdu? There was a gentlemen he spoke to? hyper­nationalism have all diaspora has a solid pre­ joust, the teams attempted to ICC Champions Trophy’ man, Babar Azam and Mo­ Afridi. Punjabi inflexion too in his The absurdity of the situa­ combined to nearly scythe a sence. If the squad he roots silence the surround­sound. notes when it defeated the hammad Hafeez, and also Umpires: Marais Erasmus and pronunciation but it is a lan­ tion is revelatory. After the shared cultural umbilical for wins, then he gets the India has a historical grip in arch­rival by 180 runs in the has the experience of a Bruce Oxenford; Third umpire: guage spoken on either side Radcliffe Line cleaved the cord. The youth’s utterance bragging rights over his the World Cups, having won final at the Oval. Shoaib Malik to rely upon Joel Wilson; Match referee: of the border. So, was he In­ two countries apart in 1947, has another import, living as friends from the rival nation. all its six clashes with the The weather too has been even though he hasn’t fired Ranjan Madugalle. dian or Pakistani? And did he historical angst, perceived he does in an England city And as these high­strung neighbour. Pakistan, mean­ phlegmatic, oscillating bet­ yet. And in the bowling Match starts at 3 p.m. IST. Our focus is on what we need to do: Kohli If we play the perfect game, The mindset of the player is different from that of the fans, says the Indian skipper we can beat everybody: Arthur K.C. Vijaya Kumar If pace becomes an Manchester <> important option, Special Correspondent Manchester The cricketing globe may be then we will look to in a tizzy over Sunday’s explore that Pakistan coach Mickey Ar­ World Cup clash between In­ Kohli thur believes that Sunday’s dia and Pakistan but Virat World Cup game against In­ Kohli preferred to treat it as within the dressing room dia presents a glorious op­ just another contest. “A pro­ and if there is added pres­ portunity for many of his fessional approach to the sure since the opponent is wards to reiterate their cre­ game is most important. We Pakistan, Kohli replied: “We dentials. “I don’t want to say can’t get too emotional. Ob­ are a top side in the world it’s the biggest rivalry in viously, the mindset of the because of the cricket that sport, but I saw some stats player is always going to be we played. Our focus is abso­ which said the soccer World different from that of the lutely that. So the conversa­ Cup final attracted 1.6 bil­ fans. You can’t mix the two,” tion in the changing room lion viewers and tomorrow the Indian skipper said in a hasn’t changed at all from is likely to get 1.5 billion. It Scores to settle: Sarfaraz Ahmed and Hasan Ali will be keen to press conference here on the time we came to England doesn’t get bigger than that. improve Pakistan’s World Cup record against India. * REUTERS Saturday. and until now.” I am telling our players in Based on the prevailing the dressing room, ‘you do and we are confident of the tournament is really im­ Clinical display conditions that hint at rain, something incredible, you that.” portant and it’s time we Kohli emphasised that he Kohli might effect some will be remembered forev­ The overwhelming theme start that.” would prefer to focus on his changes in his playing ele­ er’,” Arthur told the media linked to Pakistan through Looking back at the 2017 team rather than worry ven: “We can’t be rigid be­ here on Saturday. this World Cup has been its ICC Champions Trophy final about the opposition’s cause if the conditions are ability to scale stratospheric in which Mohammad Amir strengths: “In the first two different, then we will have Getting ready: The Indian players attend a training session ahead of the crucial match. * AP The potential heights one day and then prised out the Indian top­or­ games that we played, we to think of different combi­ Arthur felt that if Pakistan plumb the depths over the der, Arthur hinted that it is a had very clinical perfor­ nations. If pace becomes an fecting a game and some was the 2009 Champions bad shot. I couldn’t sleep un­ performed to potential, it next 24 hours. Arthur, vulnerability his team mances. We just focused on important option, then we practice sessions. Soon the Trophy at South Africa, til six in the morning. As for could defeat any opposi­ though, stressed that too would love to exploit: exactly what we needed to will look to explore that.” media interaction acquired a where Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) the funny moment, it hap­ tion: “We haven’t put the much is being read into the “Without wanting to harp do. We are not focusing too lighter tone when Kohli was fractured a finger. I was pened during the 2011 World perfect game together yet. preceding results: “Through too much, that was two much on what the opposi­ Lighter tone probed about his most tense flown in and in two days time Cup match at Mohali.