India have to guard against complacency when they play Pakistan, desperate to keep their chances alive in the Asia Cup.

The hosts' hopes of making it to the finals of the STAR Cricket Asia Cup is held by the thinnest of threads after their "inexplicable" decision-making landed them in a precarious state on their homeground.

Just one chase of 300 by India was enough to alter their plans in the next match against Sri Lanka, where they decided to bowl after winning the toss and paid the price for it. The Lankans carted them to all parts of the park and the Pakistan batting looked hapless.

India, who have had a fine run in the ODI tournaments this year, will be hoping to reach their third straight final and complacency will be their biggest threat. They do have another match against Sri Lanka the following day, but with back-to-back games against mentally-draining teams, India will do well to seal their place on Wednesday.

Both teams may also make a couple of changes. Irfan Pathan, who was sidelined with an injury, was back in the nets and may get a look-in. The big question, however, is who will he replace. The axe may fall on his brother Yusuf Pathan, which will shorten the batting line-up, or on Rudra Pratap Singh, who is integral to India's new ball bowling attack.

Pakistan, on the other hand, have to take a call on the future of Shahid Afridi. The marauder, who can on his day blow away any quality bowling attack, has been totally out of sorts - too long for Pakistan's liking. His lackadaisical attitude has not helped his cause as well.

In the match against Sri Lanka, he tried to lift the first ball into the stand and paid the price for it. For a technically-incorrect batsman like him, who does not return to the basics when out of form, Pakistan will look at a more technically sound player.

In fact, there is news floating around that he might be replaced by either Fawad Alam or Nasir Jamshed.

However, picking Jamshed for the crucial match will further aggravate the woes of an already struggling bowling attack. Also, the batting order would then have to be disturbed and skipper Shoaib Malik will have to come down the order, a decision which can backfire especially at a time when the batting looks decent.

India, on the other hand, have the best opening pair in the world. Chasing totals of around 300 is not easy on any track, however flat it may be, but the Indian line-up has seems to have made it into a habit, especially with the top order firing on all cylinders.

Virender Sehwag's love affair with the Pakistan attack continues and so does Gautam Gambhir's. A certain Suresh Raina, who has come of age in this series, will also be a thorn in the flesh for the hosts. In the last game, it was Sehwag and Raina who made the chase for 300 look embarrassingly easy.

The odds are heavily stacked against Pakistan. The match is being played in Karachi and India's record here has been phenomenal. But to write off Pakistan will be at one's own peril. The hosts are known to make comebacks from almost impossible positions and Wednesday's game is just the occasion to prove it yet again. If you hit the rock bottom, the only place to go is up. And India will do well to be aware of that.