With T20I series and captaincy on line, can he do something special to turn tide in his favour?
As soon as the pulse rate had started to settle down after the state assembly elections got over, Amdavadis have one more thriller to get soaked in.
Perhaps, even more entertaining and heart-stopping. Men in Blue lock horns with traditional rivals Pakistan in the second T20i of the two-match series at Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium Motera on Friday.
If on Wednesday, all roads of the city led to Navrangpura stadium where Narendra Modi was sworn in as chief minister for the fourth successive time, the roads to Motera are expected to be jam-packed on Friday when MS Dhoni will be keen to square the series and share the dais with his Pakistan counterpart at the trophy presentation ceremony.
As has been the trend, even this encounter between the two neighbouring giants has been a total sell out. Meanwhile, the black-marketeers made hay as prices continued to tease cricketing fans. According to sources, tickets priced at Rs1,500 were sold at ‘premium’ price of Rs4,000 on Thursday. Price are likely to move northwards on the day of clash, which gets underway at 5pm.
India may have lost the first game but sounded confident on the eve of the match. “We are here to win the match and will surely doit,” said Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, the young seamer who impressed everyone on his debut at Bangalore on Tuesday.
Pakistan are not taking things granted either after their win in first match. “Definitely, it is a huge opportunity to wrap up the series here and we all are ready to do it. Not just the T20 here, but we are very positive and ready for the entire tour. Especially the way the bowlers and batsmen both made excellent comeback after the initial setbacks, has boosted our morale and we will look to continue that in tomorrow’s game and the rest if out tour,” said Mohammad Hafeez, captain of Pakistan team. Before Friday’s clash, India and Pakistan have met twice at Motera.
The first one being in 1986, Test. It had lot of historic importance as original little master Sunil Gavaskar had crossed 10,000 runs in Test cricket. Second time, the two clashed was a One-day International in 2005. Pakistan walked away with the honours. Meanwhile, chief minister Narendra Modi-led Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) is taking no chances. The stadium has been turned into a fortress for Friday’s match.
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