WITH a couple of days to go for the first Test between Pakistan and India, there is little change in the paper strength of the two teams. The two sides remain pretty even, with India having a definite edge in each of the three departments of the game apart from having the advantage of home conditions and favourable crowds.
I found it a bit odd that captain Inzamamul Haq and certain PCB officials have in the lead-up to the series repeatedly warned India not to take the Pakistanis lightly. Playing mind games ahead of an important undertaking is part and parcel of the modern game, but a tag of the underdogs suited the team perfectly.
Besides, if India does take Pakistan lightly, which I am sure it will not, it will only work against India, and, by default, in favour of Pakistan. Why would a Pakistani want to wake up India and ask it to take us seriously? I mean, let India suffer if it doesn’t. Frankly, I found the logic a bit hollow, and it sort of betrayed a possible lack of confidence in our own camp.
Away from the mind games and on the field, the Pakistanis are not likely to have much practice under the belt going into the first Test because their only warm-up fixture was scheduled under inclement weather. Since there is not a great deal of difference between the playing surfaces of the two countries, the boys will not unduly bothered by it. However, an extended outing always helps to calm down the nerves of the touring party, and on that count the lack of competitive outing might play a few tricks.
This brings us to the issue of cramped tour itineraries which has become the unfortunate norm these days. This surely has nothing to do India-Pakistan cricket; it is a frenzy that has gripped the entire cricketing world. Now that the ICC itself is monitoring, scheduling and regulating tours much more keenly than ever before, I wonder who will actually bring an end to it all. The One Day format, which was touted to be the long-term bread-earner for the game, is already losing its magic. One can see ODIs being played in half-filled stadiums, which is something that never happened before.
The 20-20 format is now supposed to be the up and coming thing, but the way things are moving, and at the pace at which they are moving, suggests it will face a situation not too different from the one that is being faced today by the One Day Internationals. I am not against change; no one can be, for time moves on and one has to keep pace with it. But any change has to come the rational way. Going straight into a Test series without any proper warm-up is certainly not my idea of a smooth change. It puts unnecessary pressure on the players and deprives young lads of the host country of an opportunity to establish their credentials playing against a full-strength international side. the ICC will do well to take a pause to rethink the long-term interests of the game.
What I have just said may not be directly relevant to the series that is all set to get under way after a sequence of hiccups, but it is a matter close to my heart and in the broader interest of the game itself.
As for the series itself, there are as many butterflies fluttering in my stomach as there would be in the stomachs of the players. That is like saying a lot about the level of anxiety and excitement on the eve of what promises to be an evenly contested series, with both sides having equal chances. Who will actually take those chances is something we have to wait and see.
WITH a couple of days to go for the first Test between Pakistan and India, there is little change in the paper strength of the two teams. The two sides remain pretty even, with India having a definite edge in each of the three departments of the game apart from having the advantage of home conditions and favourable crowds.
