KARACHI, Sept 23: Arch-rivals Pakistan and India renew their traditional hockey rivalry when the first match of the eight-match home and away series rolls off on Friday , Pakistan having an edge over the opposition due to the penalty corner exponent Sohail Abbas in their ranks.

Although the Indians will be having Sandeep Singh, the green shirts should be more comfortable since Sohail is more experienced than the rookie Indian full-back who showed sparks at Junior Asia Cup last April initially but failed in the later stages of the tournament.

"Of course, being the short corner specialist, team relies on me heavily and I will try me best to live up to expectations," said Sohail, who have scored 261 goals till now and is just short of few goals to surpass the world record of 267 goals created by Paul Litjens of the Netherlands.

The two sides meet tomorrow at 4.00pm at Hockey Club of Pakistan to resume the series after a lapse of five years. The series initiated in 1978 was discontinued because of strained relations between the two countries and is being resumed after a thaw in relations.

The penalty corner specialist agreed that Pakistan had an advantage over the youthful Indians since his was a side that was way too experienced against a new-look Indian team having several new faces from the junior ranks.

"The Indians are focussing on junior tournaments like Junior World Cup, while we are gearing-up for the Champions Trophy in Lahore. There is no doubt that we are far better and experienced side than the current Indian team which has young and inexperienced players.

Besides, we will also be enjoying a strong backing from the supporters on the home ground," said Sohail, who has been appointed vice-captain. And it is not only Sohail who poses a great danger to the visitors as junior team full-back Imran Warsi, stepping on to the footprints of world's most feared drag-flick expert, will also be in action to support his senior.

Imran has been called up along with few other junior team players that will give him an ideal opportunity to earn a permanent place in the senior side. But the penalty corners will not be the only department in which the hosts have an upper hand.

The absence of mercurial striker Dhanraj Pillay and Baljeet Dhillon has made the Indian side all the more vulnerable. The Pakistanis, though, will not be having axed aging players, goalkeeper Ahmad Alam, forward Mohammad Nadeem and full-back Ali Raza, yet they would not be missed a lot for they hardly gave an impressive performance during the past few years.

The presence of seniors Kashif Jawwad, Rehan Butt, Shabbir Hussain, Mudassair Ali Khan, Shakeel Abbasi, and promising Akhtar Ali, Tariq Aziz as front-runners makes Pakistani attack more lethal, while newcomer Adnan Zakir will also be utilised.

Same could be said for the Pakistani half-line. Apart from newly-appointed captain Waseem Ahmad and regulars Zeeshan Ashraf and Adnan Maqsood, Imran Khan from the junior side will also be in action.

As for goal keeping, Ahmad's exit could not affect much since Salman Akbar has been at the helm mostly after the arrival of the foreign coach Roelant Oltmans. And the reason of having such huge options is obvious - Pakistan are in advantage with a bigger pool of players available for the home leg, giving the Oltmans an opportunity to test the rookies and to field as formidable side in each game as possible.

While the series could not do any good to the Pakistanis by playing a low-ranking side, India coach Gerhard Rach considers the series just a learning experience for his team and not a real competition.

Although, Pakistan look in a better situation. But nothing could be said for sure about the outcome of the series given the fact Pakistan have been giving erratic performances even after Oltmans took charge last December, while the tendency of crumbling in pressure situations is till there. Statistically, Pakistan are again placed higher than their neighbours, winning five, losing two and a draw out of eight series played so far.