December 05, 2006	Tuesday	Ziqa'ad 13, 1427

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RAWALPINDI, Dec 4: Weather will overwhelmingly have the final say in Tuesday's opening clash of the five-match One-day International series between Pakistan and the West Indies as non-stop rains have virtually rendered the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium's ground unplayable.

The West Indies, who would have played their first-ever one-dayer at this stadium, as well as Pakistan were extremely keen on the series opener to assess their preparations for next year's World Cup in the Caribbean.

But rain continued to pour for the third day running and menacing dark clouds hovered over Rawalpindi and Islamabad all day on Monday to put paid the plans of the two sides.

In fact, Monday saw the heaviest rainfall of the past three days with no signs of things getting better.

The adjoining areas in the proximity of the twin cities reported heavy rain as snowfall engulfed the Murree hills. The temperatures have dipped near freezing level and forced Monday's scheduled practice sessions to be abandoned as both teams remained confined to their hotel in Islamabad.

However, the pre-match media briefing was held at the hotel late in the afternoon and the trophy was unveiled with both West Indies captain Brian Lara and Younis Khan, the stand-in Pakistan skipper, in attendance.

When asked for his comments on the first ODI's prospects, Younis was philosophical about the match being called off.

“One cannot fight with nature, can you?” he asked. "This is something beyond the control of human beings. If the match doesn't take place at all nobody will be blamed for it since we don't have any indoor stadiums where we could play cricket!"

Younis, who will lead Pakistan because of Inzamam-ul-Haq's four-match ban, said that the ODI series was a new beginning for the team.

“The fact that we won the Test series should be considered history. Everyday is a new day and we must look forward to doing what we've got to do in our routine life and that is to play well and win.

“However, we need to keep up the momentum which we had gained in the Test. And if the lads play with the same zeal and spirit, I'm sure we can do better in the one-day series."

Younis said Pakistan's preparations for the World Cup were heading in the right direction despite poor results in the one-dayers recently.

”I admit we didn't do that well in the ICC Champions Trophy. But I still maintain that we shouldn't press the panic button just yet because we are a good side. What we need to rotate players in the coming matches before the World Cup in order to find the best available combination," he stressed.

Lara was more focussed when he said the West Indies were looking forward to the start of the game on Tuesday.

“I know, there's rain all around but we still have to prepare for the game. Our focus is on the first One-day International tomorrow and if it does not take place we move to the next match," the West Indian skipper remarked.

“It's going to be an interesting series between two teams who are actually going to open the 2007 World Cup in Jamaica on March 13."

Lara was pleased with the progress made by his team on this trip leading to the World Cup.

“We have been on the road since 6th of September to play in the DLF Cup in Malaysia, the ICC Champions Trophy in India and now this series. Getting to the two finals on this tour against the best side the world I think is a good effort by us in a year in which our success percentage has been 60," Lara said while referring to the finals in Kuala Lumpur and Mumbai.

"Of course we don't any silverware to take home having lost both finals to Australia. But I still think its early days especially with the World Cup coming up and we are looking to implement whatever necessary changes are needed before that."

Lara said that his side would go for a few experiments in the ODI playing XI despite the squad being hampered by problems. He sounded confident of doing well against the home team.

"The Test series (against Pakistan) was disappointing but we've got to move on in the one-day arena and perform against a side which has generally performed well as a team, particularly in home conditions.

"We've got a couple of enforced changes to the squad with the injury to (Ramnaresh) Sarwan and the absence of (Dwayne) Bravo for personal reasons."

“We have to try as much as possible to do some experiments, especially since we haven't got our full team here. The guys here will be getting the opportunities. Hopefully they will make full use of it because there are still some places up for grabs for the World Cup," Lara emphasized.

With so much to be done in the time available before the World Cup, both Pakistan and the West Indies at the moment are resigned to spend their time elsewhere than the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, which will record its maiden washout on Tuesday after 21 One-day Internationals.