It's time to toss and turn...

It''s the Friday Factor v/s the Kanpur factor as India takes on Pakistan at the Green Park Stadium here today. Pakistan has lost very few matches on Fridays and India still fewer in Fridays. For the statistically minded, India has won six out of the nine-one -day internationals played here since 1986, with two of these famous victories coming under Sourav''s captaincy. The home team hasn''t lost a one-dayer in Kanpur since 1994. In the last match played here during the Pepsi Series in 2002, India thrashed England, registering a comprehensive 8 wicket victory, thanks mainly to some wonderful batting by Man of the Match Virender Sehwag. The dashing Indian opener is in brilliant form in this series too, but one wonders if Sehwag or for that matter Tendulkar will be able to break the Friday jinx and help India go one-up in the series.
Oddly enough, if some people think that odds are in favour of Pakistan, it''s not on account of Inzy''s current form, but because of the dreaded Friday Factor. Barring those which can be counted on the fingertips, India has won very few matches against Pakistan on Fridays. Sure enough, India''s healthy record at Kanpur notwithstanding, the bookies are putting all their money on the visitors.
Head to head, Pakistan has won more ODIs than India, most of their victories coming at Sharjah where Friday happens to be a local holiday. But in World Cups it''s been an altogether different story. The Men in Green have never been able to get the better of India in the tournament, losing all three matches to their arch rivals- the common factor in all these matches being India batting first and the matches being not on Fridays!
The players however are not so much concerned about Friday, as they are over the prospect of the match turning into a Fry Day. With the thermometer registering a rather high opinion of the weather, the playing conditions in Kanpur have got from bad to worse. From 32 degrees celsius until recently, the mercury has shot up to 36.4 degrees. Mercifully, there has been a substantial dip (from 59% on Monday to 44% on Thursday) in humidity levels. Whether the weather or India''s fortune changes on Friday, now remains to be seen.