BANGALORE, March 23: Inzamamul Haq may not have wanted to go into his 100th Test in a position as difficult as this: 0-1 down to India, a struggling attack at his disposal, a batting line that’s unpredictable and fielding that’s only sub-standard.
This has left the Pakistan captain with the hard job of saving the series as the teams face off in the third and final match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium from Thursday.
But to make matters even tougher, a Bangalore boy who had set the Eden Gardens in Kolkata alight last week was threatening to spoil Inzamam’s milestone Test in his hometown.
Leg spinner Anil Kumble who finished off Pakistan with 7-63 would indeed be looking to pile on the agony for the tourists who were battered by 195-runs in the second Test.
Inzamam though is not too worried about the current state of affairs. “Obviously I would have wanted to be 1-0 up or at least 1-1 entering my 100th match but I am fully focused on my job and that is to win the Test and level this series.”
To do that however, would require rectifications. “Our batsmen need to be more responsible and the bowlers would have to pitch the ball at the right places,” he said as his side prepared to do battle at a venue where every match played since 1987 has produced a result, except for one rain-hit game.
The Chinnaswamy Stadium was the scene of Pakistan’s famous victory in 1987 when they won on an under-prepared pitch to land the series while on two other occasions their matches were drawn.
A draw in this Test won’t be good enough for Inzamam who says his team’s approach would be simple: “To play positive cricket and win the match.”
Post-Kolkata talks have been held with the players and the conclusion drawn was that the boys needed to go in there and just play their normal game on a wicket that seems good for batting.
“In the first innings it had looked that the Test was in our hands, we were in a commanding position but after that we let the advantage slip away.
On the last day we could have survived as the wicket was not so difficult, it was just that the batsmen did not perform.”
And to strengthen the batting, Yasir Hameed is likely to be brought in to replace Taufiq Umar who has scored only 101 runs in four innings while paceman Muhammad Khalil, who proved expensive in Kolkata, could make way for off spinner Arshad Khan.
With his landmark Test barely hours away, Inzamam couldn’t help thinking about it.
“This is something very important for me and if we are able to score a victory here it will make it all the more memorable,” said the bearded captain who will join his compatriots Javed Miandad, Salim Malik and Wasim Akram in the club of cricketers to have played 100 or more Tests.
“I had never thought that one day I would be playing in my 100th Test, I am grateful to Allah for this.
It wasn’t easy getting there and if you look at this series, it hasn’t been easy.
I am thankful to my team-mates, my family and others who have always supported me.”
Indian captain Saurav Ganguly paid tributes to Inzamam:
“He is a great player and has done a lot for his team and his country and getting to the 100-mark is surely quite an achievement.”
The rival camp was however preparing to wreck Inzamam’s big day. “I don’t think we need to go with the mindset of remaining 1-0 up, we will definitely try and play the way we did in the first two matches,” said Ganguly whose Team India were taken aback when Pakistan drew the first Test in Mohali through Abdul Razzaq and wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal on the last day.
To Ganguly, the Chinnaswamy wicket looks “good” and is expected to help the spinners. “Sometimes it is not easy to read a wicket; but I thought we read the Mohali pitch very well although we did miss a spinner on the fifth day. We had the idea of putting Pakistan in, because there had been a lot of moisture on the wicket on day one. So we had to go in with three fast bowlers, we couldn’t have gone in with two spinners.”
While the home team had not decided on their playing eleven by Wednesday afternoon, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, reported for bowling the “doosra” in Kolkata, continued to be the topic of discussion.
“It is not a source of worry but we all need to know where he stands. Only three weeks ago he was cleared by the ICC, I think they have to take a permanent stance against him. He is a great spinner and has played International cricket for the last 10 years and picked up a lot of wickets for the country. He needs to play without these sorts of pressures and the matter needs to be sorted out once and for all.”
Ganguly then talks about the runs that have dried up for him. “Yes I know I need to get runs, I have not scored runs in the last two-three innings and I’ll try my best here.” In three innings in this series, he has scored only 45 runs.
Pakistan (from): Inzamamul Haq (captain), Younis Khan (vice captain), Yousuf Youhana, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Khan Afridi, Taufiq Umar, Yasir Hameed, Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Asim Kamal, Kamran Akmal Muhammad Sami, Rana Navedul Hasan, Danish Kaneria, Arshad Khan, Muhammad Khalil .
