November 20, 2007	Tuesday	Ziqa’ad 09, 1428

KARACHI, Nov 19: Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria said he will target all India’s batsmen in the forthcoming Test series but getting the wicket that has eluded him so far – Sachin Tendulkar – would be a dream.

“I have not dismissed Tendulkar and perhaps this will be the last time I will be up against him so I wish to get his wicket,” Kaneria said before leaving for India on Monday.

Besides Kaneria, Faisal Iqbal and Mohammad Sami will join the Pakistan squad in India where the first of three Tests starts in New Delhi from Thursday.

Kaneria, 26, said playing against India was always a tough challenge.

“India pose one of the biggest challenges for us, and playing against them in their own backyard is more challenging because they have world-class batsmen like Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly and many others,” he said.

The bubbly spinner has grabbed 31 wickets against India in eight Tests but has yet to dismiss Tendulkar.

“He (Tendulkar) is a master and I came close to dismissing him in the 2005 series at Mohali. I thought it was a bat-pad but the umpire thought otherwise and his wicket eluded me. The world knows how good a batsman Tendulkar is and it would be like an empty cupboard without his wicket so the first thing in all the innings would be to get his wicket and it’s always the key.”

He said he would target all Indian batsmen with the ploy he usually unfolds against the arch-rivals.

Kaneria added that scoring big would be the key to victory.

“Since they have a very deep batting line-up the opposition needs to score big and then only you can pressurise India. If we score big then we can attack them,” said Kaneria, who has 208 wickets in 48 Tests.—AFP