Pakistan must guard against Yuvraj

Dhoni’s captaincy has been smart. He has kept teams guessing with his team selection, writes Wasim Akram.

Nobody could have asked for a better ICC Cricket World Cup semifinal than India versus Pakistan . It is the mother of all battles and the world will be watching every ball of it. I have been reading quite a few opinions by former players, saying India will be the favourites, but in matches where mental preparedness and the ability to soak pressure transcend cricketing skills, I would not like to stick my neck out.

Having said that, India will be the team under pressure, not Pakistan. The media in India is big and strong. The pressure created by them is simply mind-boggling and then there are a billion people with massive expectations. The fact that Pakistan are playing away from home is an advantage. Given the high security at Mohali, the Pak team has been largely confined to its practice sessions and the hotel. Hence, there will be no dearth of focus.

India will be on a high after beating Australia and Pakistan would do well to forget the cakewalk against the West Indies . The dismal Caribbean performance took the importance out of a World Cup quarterfinal. Well, a win is always good and if it comes convincingly, nothing like it.

Beating Australia was no mean job. India rode on some stunning performances and I think Yuvraj Singh was outstanding. Before the World Cup started, almost every one said Yuvraj was over and out, but I always said he was one good innings away from striking a purple match..

The left-hander has shown great attitude. He is eager to play long knocks and he has converted good starts to fifties and a century. Yuvraj has understood the virtue of being consistent and trust me, he is only going to get better. Unfortunately, that is not good news for Pakistan . Shahid Afridi and team will have to bowl intelligently to him. They will have to stop his run-flow and that's the only way I think Yuvraj can be reined in.

If Yuvraj has been brilliant, MS Dhoni's captaincy has been judicious and smart. I admire his horses-for-courses methods and the decision to leave out Yusuf Pathan and retain Suresh Raina was a great move. It is never easy to drop a match-winner like Pathan but Raina's partnership with Yuvraj proved to be decisive against the Aussies. Now, you don't know whether he will play Raina or Pathan in the next match. So, Dhoni has created doubt in the mind of the opposition think-tank. He is keeping everybody guessing. That's smart indeed!

I think the Indian bowlers are doing pretty well. Restricting Australia to 260 was no mean task. Zaheer, Ashwin everybody are doing their jobs and the attack has a lot of variety. Zaheer has been bowling well for the last two years but in this World Cup, he has been unplayable at times. His length is perfect, he is coming around the wicket and bowling well. For a left-hander to come around the wicket means Zaheer has got a lot of confidence.

As we approach D-Day, I sincerely urge fans of both India and Pakistan to enjoy the moment. This is the first time India and Pakistan are meeting in a World Cup semifinal. The stakes are high but we must keep our emotions in check.