India-Pakistan clash: The battle lines are drawn and only pride and honour is at stake

Catch the live score on the Chamions Trophy official site.

As India and Pakistan begin the ICC Champions Trophy Group B match here, fans of both countries said the match is significant for reasons apart from cricket.

"I am looking forward to the match, because this is a very significant match for every Indian and every Pakistani around the globe as for reasons apart from cricket. And I hope that India performs to its best," said Prashant Raj, an Indian cricket fan.

"Regardless of Pakistan being out of the tournament, I think that there is a lot of significance in this game, because India has so far not defeated Pakistan in a Champions Trophy encounter. So I was here nine years ago for the Champions Trophy encounter where India had lost. So I have travelled again from Germany to watch this game and I am very sure that India will have a different result this time," said Shovan Mathur, another fan.

"An India-Pakistan match is always an important match for us. This alone makes the tournament look like the final now," said Inzamam, a Pakistani cricket fan.

The Asian giants are competing in what is essentially a dead rubber as India has already secured a place in the semi-finals after victories over West Indies and South Africa. Pakistan on the other hand has been knocked out of tournament after two consecutive defeats.

Fans are hoping to watch an exciting match between the two arch rivals.

Tickets for the match were sold out in 30 minutes.

Birmingham is the second most populous city outside of London. The city is home to a chunky mass of Asian expats whose voracious appetite for cricket has always seen Edgbaston wearing its prettiest frock when India and Pakistan play.

At least 90% of the 25,000 capacity crowd is expected to be divided between the sub-continental cricket giants.

The battle lines are drawn afresh and only pride and honors is at stake.

Important stats:
India and Pakistan have met 124 times in the past out of which India won 49, Pakistan 71, and four no-results. India won all four encounters against Pakistan in World Cup matches since 1992, while Pakistan have 2-0 win-loss record against India in Champions Trophy. They share 5-5 record in the last 10 meetings (ODI).

Teams (from)

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Asad Shafiq, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, M. Irfan, Asad Ali, Wahab Riaz, Umer Amin, Abdul Rehman, Ehsan Adil

From the scene: India-Pakistan butt heads in ICC Champions Trophy match, stadium full to the brim with enthusiastic fans