WITH the series between Pakistan and India just a wee bit away, it is somewhat disturbing that the final details of the tour are still in thin air. I am sure it must be as disturbing for those in the Pakistan Cricket Board as it is for the players. While the issue of television rights is nothing serious, for the controversy raises its ugly head every time there is some international cricket in India, but it all gets settled before the first ball is bowled. So it has become one of those unfortunate routines that Indian cricket has to undergo time and time again.
However, the controversy about match venues is pretty serious, and I find hardly anything wrong with the stance adopted by the PCB. After all, Pakistan had gone out of its way to accommodate every single whim and fancy of their Indian counterparts in order to make it convenient for their players to concentrate on cricket. Now when it is the Indian turn to be accommodative, they seem to be reluctant, taking refuge behind one lame excuse or the other. No, I am not impressed at all. I sincerely hope that things would have been sorted out by the time these lines appear in print and that the tour would go ahead without much of a hassle.
Moving on to the cricketing capacity of the two sides, it is anybody’s guess to pick the underdogs in the series. The kind of drubbing Pakistan recently had on its tour of Australia means they will be taking the field with their confidence level far from being ideal. The funny thing is that even India has played much below its potential in recent times. By the looks of it, the series will be between two underdogs rather than two favourites. But there is little to suggest that the series will be anything less than entertaining, interesting and gripping. After all, it is a Pakistan-India series.
Regardless of what the selectors may or may not decide about the composition of the touring squad, it is essential for the Pakistanis to concentrate on doing the basics right. The team is clearly low on confidence and the ideal thing to do under these circumstances is to go for the basics, I mean they will have to bowl straight rather than fast, and bat sensibly rather than aggressively. On paper, it is not like asking for the moon, but, then, you never know with a Pakistani outfit.
As I see it, the major problem that the Pakistanis are likely to face on the tour will be about dismissing the strong Indian batting lineup twice inside five days of a Test match. It was a struggle when the two teams had met last in Pakistan, but it is bound to be a bigger endeavour playing on the Indian soil. Rana Naveed and Abdul Razzaq both bowled well during the dying moments of the Australian tour, but that was in the One-Day format, which is an entirely different proposition than bowling in the longer version of the game.
Even though Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami are on the list of injured as I write these lines, there is little doubt that they will be on the flight to India. But they will have to use their brain rather than brawn to be effective.
As for leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, he seems to have gained in maturity, but two things would be working against him; one, the Indians are good players of spin; and, two, since having been called back from Australia Kaneria would not have bowled in any competitive game for over two months before taking on the Indians. If he can overcome the obstacles, Pakistan cricket would be a definite beneficiary.
WITH the series between Pakistan and India just a wee bit away, it is somewhat disturbing that the final details of the tour are still in thin air. I am sure it must be as disturbing for those in the Pakistan Cricket Board as it is for the players. While the issue of television rights is nothing serious, for the controversy raises its ugly head every time there is some international cricket in India, but it all gets settled before the first ball is bowled. So it has become one of those unfortunate routines that Indian cricket has to undergo time and time again.
