LAHORE, Pakistan, March 11: India's defeat by a Pakistan A side was a rude wake-up call before the first one-day international in Karachi on Saturday, Indian coach John Wright said.
"If there were any illusions about how tough this tour was going to be, they were (shattered)," Wright said on Thursday. "We received a jolt. We've got to sort things out quickly."
India's famed batting lineup performed well on Thursday, piling up 335 for six from their 50 overs, but their weakened bowling attack was punished severely by openers Taufeeq Umar and Imran Nazir.
"Bowling is a different ball-game when you are being attacked," Wright said. "We bowled bad lengths and our lines were all over the place. We can't have people consistently going for 60s and 70s when they're put under pressure."
India are without their frontline bowlers, leg-spinner Anil Kumble and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, due to injury. Zaheer Khan is coming back from hamstring injury, which ruled him out after the third test in Australia at Melbourne late last year.
"Zaheer has done a good job for us in the past. It's never easy coming back from injury, let's give him another chance," Wright said. Khan went for 78 from nine overs, pace partner Lakshmipathy Balaji for 60 from six and left-arm fast bowler Irfan Pathan was punished for 49 from his five. -Reuters
