Rampaging form and beleaguered opponents tilt the scale pretty much in India's favour but complacency, and not Pakistan, pose the most serious threat to Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team in the final of the tri-series in Dhaka on Saturday.
- Images: India ease past Bangladesh
With runs flowing from the blades of India's top order batsmen and the bowling attack mowing down rival line-ups with regularity, Dhoni hardly had a reason to worry as his team bulldozed Bangladesh and pounded Pakistan with characteristic ruthlessness in two lop-sided league contests to storm into the final.
In contrast, a depleted Pakistan reached the summit showdown not before India had inflicted on them their worst defeat against the arch-rivals.
The 140-run thumping in fact had a ripple effect with a livid Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Nasim Ashraf shooting off a stinging e-mail to team manager Talat Ali seeking immediate explanation and questioning the team's ability, along with that of coach Geoff Lawson and the captain Shoaib Malik.
And with Ashraf set to attend tomorrow's final, Malik and his teammates would surely feel the heat.
In contrast, Dhoni's team has hardly put a foot wrong since their arrival here and the India captain said he was expecting the openers and new ball bowlers to deliver the goods.
"I am really happy about the team performance. We have played two matches and in both ties, we had good starts both in batting and bowling. I wish the same kind of performance continues in the final against Pakistan also," Dhoni said.
Openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have been firing on all cylinders, continuing exactly from where they had left it in the Indian Premier League.
They put on 155 runs for the opening stand against Pakistan and added 85 last night against the hosts to provide the perfect start and the brisk rate.
New ball bowlers, especially Praveen Kumar, have shown a penchant to draw the first blood and peg the opponents to the back foot.
Dhoni, meanwhile, is taking nothing for granted and is insisting on focussing on the process, rather than guessing the outcome.
"Let's not think about the result but we should win the game as we have been doing so often. Every game is a fresh game and we need to carry on the momentum to some, even though you always start afresh. We have to repeat all the good work that we have done in the last two matches," he said.
"Of course we will be carrying our confidence but you have to start from the scratch again in the final. It is all about playing the game to your potential and to your strength. That is what is important rather thinking about beating the rivals."
He also seemed oblivious of the hype that generally surrounds an Indo-Pak tie.
"The final against Pakistan is just another game. We are going to play them for the second time. The team wants to play a good game of cricket and we would like to give our best tomorrow."
Squads (From):
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, R P Singh, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha and MS Gony.
Pakistan: Shoaib Malik (C), Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Yonus Khan, Muhammad Yousaf, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Umer Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz, Nasir Jamshed, Sohail Khan, Rao Iftikar, Bazid Khan and Naumanullah.
Start of Play: 1430 HRS (IST).
