Mirpur braces for fiery clash

At the moment there are few venues in the world that can match the excitement of the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur during an India-Pakistan encounter.

A packed stadium with nearly an equal number of supporters for either team shouting their lungs out, it does not get much better than that. Judging by the last few experiences, it won't be wrong to state that an India-Pakistan encounter gets an almost similar response to that of a Bangladesh game here.

This will be the third time in two years that the two teams will face off in Mirpur when the teams take the field today. The last time the sides took on each other was in Adelaide during the World Cup when India won comfortably.

Prior to that, they faced each other twice in 2014 in Mirpur, during the Asia Cup and the ICC World Twenty20. The Asia Cup match, in particular, was one which many would remember.

With nine wickets gone, Pakistan needed 10 runs to win in the last over. Shahid Afridi arrived and smashed two sixes to take Pakistan home.

Two years on, a similarly exciting contest is on the cards with the main battle expected to take place between Pakistan's army of left-arm pacers and India's batsmen.

With the Mirpur wicket assisting the pacers early on, Pakistan are expected to make an attempt to use a strategy similar to the one followed by the hosts in the first game and use their fast bowlers. While India seem to be a bit more balanced, their main strength will be their batting.

The player of the match of the first game for India, Rohit Sharma, exuded confidence ahead of the clash and believed that his side would be able to handle of the likes of Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz.

“They have a formidable bowling attack no doubt, but we want to concentrate more on our strengths and prepare our plans accordingly. Our strength is batting and depending on the wicket we will have to focus on that.

“They have good left-arm seamers in their armoury, while our bowling attack is more potent and has more variety in it,” said Rohit at the pre-match press conference.

“We are preparing for each individual and not just one. We have to be well prepared and we are up for the challenge. We are not thinking too far ahead and doing everything we can to win game,” he added.

Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi said that he expected the conditions to support his pacers. He believes his side can come out on top as long as they 'don't repeat their mistakes and stick to the basics'.

“We have got four pacers and they are considered to be wicket-taking. Our fast bowlers will try to utilise the opening six overs and try to remove their batsmen early on,” said Afridi.

So far, the two teams have faced each other six times in this format with India winning on five occasions and Pakistan winning once.