WORLD CUP SCHEDULE

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MANCHESTER: Soon after the sun came out to give much-needed respite to the groundstaff at the Old Trafford, the Pakistani think-tank - captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq and coach Mickey Arthur - ambled across to the pitch which will host the India-Pakistan World Cup game on Sunday.POINTS TABLEAfter taking a close look at the track, the trio held a mini conference at the ground. Inzamam was seen making some animated points as the coach and captain listened attentively. It was time to plan and plot for something Pakistan have always coveted but never achieved - a win over India in the World Cup.For the Pakistan team, this is more than crunch time. After the horrendous beginning to the World Cup when they were shot out for 105 by West Indies, Pakistan stunned hosts England to restore credibility as a serious contender. But they were back to their profligate ways in the loss to Australia.Lying eighth in the table after four games, one of which was rained off, Pakistan desperately need a win to stay relevant in the tournament. The team management is well aware of the enormity of the task.Having never beaten the arch rivals in the World Cup in six attempts, the jinx is like a millstone around Pakistan's neck. If they can manage to pull off an unlikely victory on Sunday, it will ensure a celebratory welcome back home, trophy or no trophy.But the dice is loaded against them. It's not just history, it's also the gap in the performance graph of the two teams which makes Pakistan's job that much harder. The Indian team is one of the strongest here and has lived up to the pre-tournament billing with two comfortable wins over strong opposition. It's a professional unit which means business. Pakistan, on the other hand, continue to be an enigma, talented but mindbogglingly unpredictable, just like the English weather.What Pakistan will also have to contend with is the shift in the balance of power between the two countries in the last 15 years or so. Pakistan exercised dominance over India in One-day cricket in early years. The famous last-ball six Javed Miandad hit off Chetan Sharma to win the Sharjah Cup for Pakistan in 1986 gave the team a psychological edge over India. The ascendancy continued for more than a decade before India turned the tide in the Sahara Cup in Toronto in 1997 with a 4-1 series win.Between 1978 and 1997, the two countries played 52 ODIs and Pakistan won 33 of them. It was the era of stalwarts like Imran Khan , Miandad, Wasim Akram , Abdul Qadir, Rameez Raja, Saleem Malik who were not only very capable cricketers but also relished a fight against India. Later, stars like Inzamam, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar and Moin Khan kept the flag flying high.However, the tide began changing in the late-1990s with the growth of a new generation of Indian stars who did not carry any baggage of the past, which reflected the rise of India as a global power. Superstars like Sachin Tendulkar , Sourav Ganguly , Rahul Dravid , Virender Sehwag and Anil Kumble were the faces of this change. On the administrative and corporate front too, Indian cricket became bigger. It became more savvy and professional at various levels while in Pakistan, it went the other way.The advent of players like MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh gave India a winning mentality and the team began winning those close games it would lose earlier. The current bunch, led by Virat Kohli , has continued the good work, making sure the Men in Blue continue to enjoy the upper hand.The emergence of world class pace bowlers has also helped India maintain the edge. In earlier times, India were a poor match for Pakistan's pace riches. Often, they were smoked out by Pakistan's fast men. It's no longer the case with India boasting of a formidable pace arsenal of its own.Since 2006, the two teams have contested 30 ODIs and India have bagged 19, a win percentage of 63.33 percent. The overall win ratio still favours Pakistan - 73 wins out of a total of 131. But slowly, India have managed to narrow the gap. And the way it is going, they will continue to remain ahead unless there is fundamental change in the way Pakistan play and run their cricket.