A battle within a battle is what cricket is all about and it cannot get bigger when it is India vs Pakistan. All eyes will be on India skipper Virat Kohli and Pakistan's Mohammad Amir when they have a go at each other.
The Indian captain, though fluent in his batting against the world's best bowlers, has had some discomfort in the past in tackling the Pakistan pace spearhead. Kohli has faced Amir in five ODIs and two T20Is.
On Sunday, the Indian captain didn't get to face Amir in his first spell — with the new ball and then carefully negotiated him when the paceman came back for his second spell.
The lethal bowler that Amir is in the death finally accounted for Kohli when the batsman nicked one to Sarfaraz Ahmed behind the stumps.
However, replays suggested that there was no contact between the bat and the ball as rightly suggested by the on-field umpire but Kohli, who chose to walk, remained out.
Amir had earlier took the prized wicket of Kohli when it mattered the most too — in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017. The Indian captain fell to Amir for just five runs and it was a blow that India could never recover from. Kohli's early dismissal meant a middle order collapse and India lost the final by 180 runs, chasing a mammoth 339.
The duo had earlier on many occasions have termed each other 'the best'.
In the ongoing World Cup, the young Pakistan pacer is in good form. He tormented Australia's middle order with a five-wicket haul (5/30), however the Pakistan batsmen didn't come to the party as his haul eventually went in vain as Pakistan lost the match by 41 runs.
Read: India vs Pakistan, a match made in heaven
Kohli hasn't impressed as much as he would have loved to in the World Cup so far, scoring 100 runs in two matches — 82 against Australia after managing just 18 against South Africa.
Amir, on the other hand, has been having a good outing with the ball. His five-wicket haul against Australia was preceded by a two wicket haul against England and three against the West Indies.
Batting great Sachin Tendulkar, in an interview earlier, had suggested that the Indian openers should be aggressive against Amir.
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