20 February 2005	Sunday	10 Muharram 1426

LAHORE, Feb 19: Pakistan team skipper Inzamamul Haq declared on Saturday that 'passion and spirit' were more vital than experience to earn positive results in the forthcoming tour of India.

"The youngsters played with great determination in the later part of the Australian tour and that spirit is needed in India," he said Pakistan will play three Tests and six ODIs in India in its first tour after a period of six years.

The itinerary of the tour is likely to be announced by Sunday. Inzamam admitted that the fast bowling department was weakened by the Absence of strike bowler Shoaib Akhtar but hoped that Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Khalil, Rana Navedul Hasan would do better.

"Definitely Shoaib is our main strike bowler and we will miss him in India but no one can do anything when a player is injured," he said. He said that Sami and Khalil had been declared fit but unfortunately Shabbir was still recovering after a knee operation and would miss the tour.

Inzamam said that the spin department was strengthened by the addition of another bowler (off-spinner Arshad Khan). Asked about the unpredictable performance of batsmen in the past, Inzamam admitted that the bowlers could perform only when the batsmen set a challenging total for the opponents.

"But it is a team game and if the bowlers and the batsmen do their job you can win," he said. Inzamam denied there was any controversy between him and the selectors on any player during the meeting. "All the decisions were taken with consensus and there was also no controversy for the Australian tour," Inzamam claimed.