India vs Pakistan, ICC Champions Trophy 2017, India cricket, Pakistan cricket, Babar Azam
Babar Azam.Reuters.

The India-Pakistan match this weekend for the ICC Champions Trophy is all that cricket fans around the world seem to be talking about now. No matter who you are, who you support or which country you live in, India vs Pakistan is always a must-watch match. The two countries have a long-standing rivalry, which will be carried on this Sunday.

While players from both teams will be expected to keep a calm outlook, there is no doubt that the pressure of a whole country will fall on their shoulders during the course of the match.

Also read: India vs Pakistan: Here is a look at some of the fights the two nations have had over the years

In the last few ODI matches that the teams have played, India have achieved a better record. The men in blue last played England in an ODI series, and won two of the three matches. Before that they faced New Zealand and won that series too, winning three out of the five matches.

Pakistan too have been in decent form in ODI matches lately. They last faced West Indies and after losing the first match, they won the last two. However, before they faced West Indies, they got completely hammered by Australia in a five-match ODI series.

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Despite India being the better team leading up to this match, it won't be fair to rule Pakistan out just yet. Indian fans took to Twitter and have already started trolling the Pakistan team. All this may backfire on Sunday if India ends up losing to Pakistan.

Indian fans should also note that Pakistan currently have a better head-to-head record against India in Champions Trophy matches, and lead 2-1 at the moment.

Pakistan have a number of players would could trouble India on Sunday, and Babar Azam is one of them. The batsman scored three consecutive ODI hundreds against West Indies. Even in the ODI matches against Australia where they got hammered, Azam was the only player who put in a decent performance, scoring 33, 34, 84, 31, 100 to finish as the second highest run-getter in the series.

The experience of Shoaib Malik, who is playing his sixth Champions Trophy, along with that of Mohammad Hafeez, could also play an important factor if Pakistan are to silence the Indians on Sunday.

Shadab Khan and Mohammad Amir could also cause a lot of trouble for the Indian batsmen with the ball. Although Amir has not been at his best since his comeback from the spot-fixing saga, he is slowly finding his best form. He picked up eight wickets against Australia and five against West Indies.