Wasim Akram has termed Thursday's India-Pakistan Group B match as a "virtual semifinal" of the STAR Cricket Asia Cup.

"This is the mother of all the games," Akram said while previewing the match for Mobile ESPN.

He said Sri Lanka will come in to the next stage of the tournament with four points as they had beaten Bangladesh and were expected to easily dismiss the United Arab Emirates in their Group tie on Thursday.

India and Pakistan had both won their games against Hong Kong and the winner of their contest will take full points and top the table in Group B, which is why "this could be the semi-final".

"On paper, India is ahead of Pakistan," he said, while cautioning that the toss would be very crucial to the outcome of this game.

"Whichever team will bat first, they could get 280 plus. The team batting second will find it difficult to chase that target with a full house and with all the noise and pressure.

"If India bat first, Pakistan's new ball bowlers must be able to contain them in the first 10 overs. If india bat well, they can get 300 runs," he added.

Akram also admitted that Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were the best opening pair in one-day cricket in the world at present and posed a serious threat to Pakistan's chances.

Meanwhile, cricket expert Harsha Bhogle said the pressure of an India-Pakistan game had seemed to have declined off latr.

"There isn't the same sense of expectations as India and Pakistan have played a lot against each other lately. But things will change the moment the two teams walk out in to the middle," he told Mobile ESPN.

"Pakistan have as usual blown hot and cold. They are much better when they put the runs on the board and then get the bowlers to defend them as they have a very decent seam bowling attack," reckoned Bhogle.

He said Pakistan's batting, however, "looks a touch fragile" when they are asked to chase.

The expert commentator said India still had a lot of plus even though the seamers were "not looking that impressive".

"If India put the runs on the board, Pakistan will be under pressure. India still have the edge," he added.