Ganguly doubtful starter Shoaib promises to go flat out in today's clash
By Imran Naeem Ahmad
RAWALPINDI, March 15: Pakistan's pace king Shoaib Akhtar promises to go flat out in his 100th One-day International on Tuesday at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
, but India will be without pacer Ashish Nehra in the second match of the one-day series.
Playing in front of his home crowd, Shoaib, who has taken 160 wickets in 99 one-day matches, said that for him levelling the series was more important. "Obviously it is an honour for me to play for my country, but the most important thing is that we should square the series," said the Rawalpindi Express who had a 'bad' opening match that Pakistan lost by five runs in Karachi.
"I have performed everywhere, against all oppositions including world champions Australia and there is no reason why I should not perform against India tomorrow.
"On a wicket on which nearly 700 runs were scored, a bowler cannot do much," the fast bowler said. The Pakistan attack, led by Shoaib, gave away 38 extras that Rahul Dravid, the Indian vice-captain, said had helped his team win the match.
He felt that paceman Mohammad Sami needed to get into his rhythm quickly. Pakistan are likely to bring in Shabbir Ahmed, who has now recovered from a finger injury, in place of Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan, and may also turn to the hard-hitting opener Shahid Afridi, replacing Imran Farhat.
Although Miandad was reluctant to disclose the composition of the team he said that the players were all confident going into Tuesday's day/night match, which will be the first ever One-day International between the two sides in Rawalpindi.
But things in the Indian camp did not appear too good with Dravid coming in to address a news conference in place of an unwell skipper Saurav Ganguly. "Saurav has a mild fever and we will assess his fitness tomorrow," said Dravid as his team came in for a practice session at the stadium, their captain among them.
Nehra, whose exceptional last over denied Pakistan victory at Karachi, is out with a swollen ankle. "We do have good replacements but there are some issues we have to sort out in terms of fitness and we will decide on the composition of the team tomorrow," Dravid added.
Nehra, who gave away just three singles in his last over with Pakistan needing nine runs for victory, is certain to be replaced by Irfan Pathan or Ramesh Powar.
India have Vangipurappu Laxman now available after the batsman missed the first game because of a stiff knee. "We will be reviewing his fitness after today's session and I am confident he will be fit to play," Dravid remarked.
Dravid, who took time out to go sightseeing on Sunday, said that despite the injuries the morale of the team was high. The pitch for the crucial encounter is grassless and promises to provide plenty of runs. Curator Andy Atkinson said it should yield more than 500 runs. He laughed off the prospect of 700 runs being scored on it.
Teams (from):
PAKISTAN: Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Yousuf Youhana, Inzamamul Haq (captain), Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Moin Khan (wicket-keeper), Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Younis Khan, Shabbir Ahmed, Rao Iftikhar, Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan, Saqlain Mushtaq.
