RAWALPINDI, March 14: Indian coach John Wright on Sunday heaped praise on his players for pulling off a stunning five-run victory over Pakistan in the opening One-day International in Karachi and said paceman Ashish Nehra did well at the fag end.
"It was an excellent start, a mixture of delight and relief and I think our pace bowlers did a good job and Nehra's last over was exceptional," said the former New Zealand skipper
Pakistan needed nine runs from the last over but Nehra gave away just three singles besides taking the wicket of Moin Khan off his final delivery to seal it for his side.
Speaking to reporters ahead of Tuesday's second game in Rawalpindi, Wright termed the epic win in which Rahul Dravid top-scored with 99 runs as more special than last year's World Cup victory at Centurion. "It was a wonderful occasion at Centurion and it was more special in Karachi yesterday because of being in one of the countries."
India had beaten Pakistan by six wickets in that World Cup match."It is very special for everyone involved including me and probably unique," said Wright whose team put on a record 349 for seven off their 50 overs batting first.
Pakistan then chased splendidly, with captain Inzamam-ul-Haq scoring a blistering century but in the end, the home side fell short by a whisker. India are hopeful that batsman Vangipurappu Laxman, who sat out the Karachi match because of a stiff knee, would be fit for the second game. "We have to see tomorrow, the knee is not troubling him with batting, it's just the fielding but we are hopeful."
Wright did not want to be drawn into how much he was missing spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh who could not make the trip because of injuries. "Whether we are missing them or not is irrelevant because they won't be here for the one-day series. We have got two spinners here and it is an opportunity for them to do their job," he said of Murali Kartik and Ramesh Powar.
Wright said that the players were the best judges to handle the pressures of an India-Pakistan encounter. "I think one of the attitudes in such pressures is to be calm and it is an important thing. In support at this level you look for calmness. They are pressure games no doubt about that."
He felt that India bowled well in the first 15 overs but the middle overs were a problem. "That's something we have got to look at. We need to get better in that part of the game, there is no doubt about it."
Meanwhile, four of the Indian players including paceman Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel, Laxman and Powar had nets at the Rawalpindi Stadium. All four did not feature in the Karachi match.
Of Pathan's chances of playing in Rawalpindi, Wright said: "When it comes to every match, we look at each player. I personally have a high regard for him. I think he is tailor-made for these sort of encounters. He is sort of cricketer who is young and has tremendous determination."
The Indian team will have net practice at the match venue on Monday. Meanwhile, Andy Atkinson, the foreign curator hired by Pakistan Cricket Board, said the Rawalpindi pitch was batting wicket and could provide over 500 runs.
