KARACHI, March 1: Zaheer Abbas, the former Test captain, said on Monday that India had a definite edge over Pakistan in the batting department for the impending one-day series against Pakistan.

"India's bowling is adequate without being extraordinary, but their batting strength is much stronger than Pakistan's on paper," Zaheer told Dawn. The legendary 56-year-old right-handed batsman predicted a tough one-day series.

"Pressure, for sure, will be on the home side because of the high expectations. Although Pakistan's bowling is stronger, it will entirely depend on the fitness and form of fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami.

"On the contrary, the Indian bowling line-up lacks spin penetration and (Murali) Kartik is not great turner of the ball," Zaheer added. Hasib Ahsan, a former Test off-spinner and chairman of selectors, backed Pakistan to win the one-day series 4-1, adding that the home team had better all-round strength than the tourists.

"I feel that with Shoaib and Sami leading the bowling line- up, followed by support bowlers such as Abdul Razzaq, Saqlain Mushtaq and Shahid Afridi, Pakistan have an upper-hand in the one-dayers," he noted.

Hasib pointed out that the Indians will be under huge pressure right from the start of the tour. "The unnecessary fuss over security issue would play on their mind. To me this is a mere excuse from the Indians because the main worry for them is the fear of losing against Pakistan.

"The absence of (Anil) Kumble and (Ajit) Agarkar hardly makes any difference. Of course, India's batting is formidable. But let us not forget that it was their batting that badly let them in the one-day finals against Australia," the 64-year-old commented.

Salahuddin Ahmed, however, was of the view that India had the capacity to pile up big totals. "They are always capable of making big scores, whether batting first or second. If Pakistan do not make somewhere closer to 300 or more, they will struggle to defend it.

"The likes of Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman and Dravid are renowned batsmen. The Indian batting overcomes the weaknesses in the bowling department," the ex-chief selector observed.

Salahuddin said that the toss will play a crucial role in determining the course of the series. "As I have said, India bat very well in conditions they are accustomed to. They faltered badly in the finals during the one-day finals in Australia only because of the alien environment. The wickets here generally favour batting and India are extremely powerful in the middle-order.

"In addition, the Indians were up against a side that was both physically and mentally tough. That is one key factor in Australia being the world champions simply because they have an edge over the rest in these two areas," the ex-Test all-rounder added.

Salahuddin stressed the need for considerably improving fielding if Pakistan hoped to win the one-day series. "We have of late fallen behind in this vital cricketing area.

If Pakistan include players such as Shahid Afridi and Imran Nazir, the standard of fielding will automatically go very high. "These two are still very young but like Saqlain Mushtaq (the off-spinner) they have been handled badly by the selectors in recent times," he stated.