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Singapore, April 4: Traditional rivalry between Pakistan and In- dia will be on view in this part of the world on Friday when the two former world champions clash in the last preliminary match of the triangular at The Padang.

The much-expected thriller is being billed as the semi-final match of the tournament as both the neighbouring teams find them- selves in a must- win situation while Sri Lanka have already con- firmed a place in the final.

As the situation stands after Wednesday`s match, both India and Sri Lanka have two points each while Pakistan have yet to get on the scoreboard after losing the rescheduled opener on Tuesday by 34 runs to Sri Lanka.

If Pakistan manage to avenge the Bangalore defeat in the World Cup quarter-final, all the three teams will be jointly placed at two points each Sri Lanka at 0.44, India at 0.24 and Pakistan at -0.68. And that is when the net run-rate will come into reckon- ing.

"In the event of teams finishing on equal points, the right to play in the final will be decided on the net run-rate in the preliminary matches," playing condition rule says.

Then Pakistan will not only have a task to win on Friday, they will have to fulfil certain formalities which would only throw them into second place on the points table.

Pakistan will either have to achieve the given target at least by 45 overs in chasing or will have to beat India by at least 35 runs if defending the total.

But there appears to be some confusion about the net run-rate and run-rate here. If the net run-rate will be applied, Pakistan have a double task ahead and if only run-rate will be effective then they only have to win either by a solitary run or in the last over.

However, if Pakistan lose on Friday, Sri Lanka and India will go through the final to be played on Sunday.

The two teams prepared differently for tomorrow`s match.

Pakistan had a training session in the morning and were seen do- ing some fielding, batting and bowling practice while India took a complete day off.

They stayed back in their hotel sleeping and relaxing after hav- ing a very tough day in the field on Wednesday.

The word from the Indian camp was that they will be playing the same team. Navjot Singh Sidhu has recovered from dehydration after a long innings of 94 from 116 balls. However, if the Indi- ans decide not to risk Sidhu again, the chances of which are re- mote, opener Vikram Rathore will come in the team. On the con- trary, Pakistan are planning to make a couple of changes. If the second change has not been decided yet, the change which has been confirmed is the inclusion of Mushtaq Ahmad for Mohammad Akram who was hammered for 66 runs from seven overs against Sri Lanka.

The other change which the Pakistanis are thinking is to rest Ramiz Raja and bring in Basit Ali, a good thinking considering the ground and the abilities of Basit.

The venue is very small here and a player like Basit Ali will be an ideal change. Basit has shown potential as a powerful hitter of the ball and on this ground he can score some very quick runs. Moreover, Basit has very good idea of playing on smaller grounds as in Karachi some of the grounds on which Basit plays club cricket are almost similar to this one.

There is no denying the fact that Basit had a bad last season but for that he was dropped from the World Cup squad. The other thing is that unless The Management doesn`t play Basit, how will it be known what his form is. And a significant point is that the management cannot leave out a player of Basit`s calibre for long. Some day or the other, Basit will be included in the team and the best venue at the moment seems to be this one where Basit can play some shots, get runs and regain his confidence.

The other advantage of playing Basit is that he is an athletic and alert fielder. He has a good sprint which can help Pakistan save a few boundaries while his hands are considered to be one of the safest.

As far as the prospects of Friday`s game are concerned, if the law of averages exist and is into account, Sachin Tendulkar should get some good runs as it has been three successive games he has not scored, of course, by his standards. Only some intel- ligent bowling from Waqar Younis and Aqib Javed with the new ball can stop him from scoring freely.

Pakistan batsmen batted with discipline on Tuesday and need the same again on Friday. The stroke-makers should realise that the bowlers are not at their best at the moment and it is them who have to play a leading role if Pakistan are to win here or in Sharjah next week.

© The Dawn