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The weather reports are not promising for the World Cup matches this week. Should the rains have their say again today, it would be akin to a form of revenge for the early exit of all things cricket, and English, as far as this competition concerned.

The single overriding reason why the elements should away from this match is simple: this is not just another cricket match. This match transcends the borders of the conscious into the subconscious, it goes beyond the prosaic and the mundane details of just bat hitting ball, it climbs the heights of expectations of over a billion souls who, left on their own, would probably not even know one end of a bat from another. Strong men weep at the outcome of this match, the weak at times put themselves out of their misery, so meaningless does the world become for them.

It is not just teams from Group A and B playing each other. This is India playing Pakistan. This, to the uninitiated is not just a cricket match. The captains may say what they want, diplomacy and tact somehow come naturally to them when they are asked to predict the outcome or explain their approach. Deep in their hearts they know it is different from any other match. No dressing room worth its salt would be seen without a brooding cloud of tension that envelops each and every player. The skipper expects a certain level of adrenaline to be coursing through the veins of his players. Woe betide otherwise.

As India takes on Pakistan today, the world would watch with bated breath whether Pakistan can travel the path that it feels is ordained for them. Fact and figuratively, several lives would be flashing past Azhar's eyes, as his team nears the end of the road of its star crossed campaign. Theoretically, India's input left in this competition is just that of being of nuisance value. Presently, they are very much on the floor, having suffered a series of mortal blows in the past few days. But that, as every Tom, Dick and Abdul who can tell his cricket from his Colgate knows, is of little concern today. This match is special, it has always been. The heat is on.

Pakistan would be unleashing their battery of fast bowlers against a batting side, that looks invincible on paper, and in fact, against any other side in the world. But, against Pakistan this batting has crumbled and disintegrated more times than one cares to remember. It is one of the paradoxes of this World Cup that, India has still not been able to decide where to hide the best batsman in the world. The Indian obsession of keeping him under wraps yet expecting him to perform, has so confused and demoralised the man concerned, that neither Tendulkar nor India have caused any inconvenience to the bowling opponents. Tendulkar, thanks to his over protective team management, is now reduced to a pale shadow of what he was. Nervous and edgy, he has gone into a shell. In the West Indies, the cry would no doubt have arisen in a similar situation, to ``let de tiger loose, maan!''. But the twain shall never meet, and now that it is too late, India can repent at leisure, once the heads have rolled.

Pakistan go into this match as firm favourities. They have played India many a time before, and know their weaknesses inside out. They have taken perverse pleasure in kicking the soft underbelly of the Indian line-up so many times before, that barring a totally unexpected shock that has to register fairly high on the Richter Scale, the outcome of this match is in little doubt. Pakistan only needs a sensible collected approach to get the two points they need. Two defeats in the recent past, may have shaken their confidence levels somewhat, but India seem to be the cool and soothing balm for any lingering effects of their trauma. India needs a massive win to keep their hopes alive in this competition. That, Watson, is not on the cards. Cricket may be a funny game, but it has not got funnier to the extent that warrants the improbable.

As far as England '99 is concerned, India and Pakistan are but passing ships at sea. Before the day is dead, however, they will have enacted another chapter in one of the most abiding and intriguing sporting rivalries of our time.