KARACHI, March 12: Cricket experts may have rated India as favourites for the five-match limited-overs series, but history is on Pakistan's side as the two Asian giants prepare to meet in the first One-day International at the National Stadium on Saturday.

Billed as the 'Mother of all Series' because of the huge interest of the people from all walks of life, the two teams with a long start-stop but chequered history will be going into the opening match with a cautious approach.

For the people of Karachi, Saturday's much-awaited encounter will also test their patience and temperament. They cannot afford to put up anything but their best behaviour to ensure international cricket returns to the city regularly from now onwards.

In one-day cricket, the simple logic is that the side that plays better on the day generally ends up winning. Predictions, in some cases, go wrong. But it is an ideal combination with India expected to dominate in batting while Pakistan have a definite edge in the bowling department.

Everything in ODIs hinge on the standard of fielding. Here both these sides are on the same wavelength with the return of Karachi's favourite son Shahid Afridi from a one-year hiatus from international cricket.

The 87th meeting at this level between the two arch- rivals and the first for more than a year is expected to be watched by TV audience of over one billion people with just over 33,000 expected to be present at the stadium when the match begins at 9.30am.

Pakistan have edge over India with 52 victories, including 10 in 15 matches on their own territory. India have emerged victorious 30 times but only thrice on Pakistan soil. Crucially though, India won the last time they played in Karachi when crowd trouble curtailed the match in 1997. The Indians also outplayed Pakistan in the drama-filled World Cup clash at Centurion in South Africa just over a year ago.

Since that game, Pakistan had gone through an overhauling process with captaincy changing hands from Waqar Younis to Rashid Latif and finally to Inzamam-ul-Haq. Greats such as Wasim Akram and Saeed Anwar bade goodbye to the game while Waqar has been sidelined almost permanently.

Pakistan, spurred on by vociferous home support, are happy to take the field as the underdogs. Both Inzamam-ul-Haq and Javed Miandad, the team's captain and skipper, think that will divert the pressure towards the Indian camp.

India lost badly to Pakistan 'A' the other day. But captain Saurav Ganguly has claimed that the real battle resumes from Saturday.

India definitely have the batting line-up that can be easily rated as the best in the world. But it has the tendency to be susceptible in pressure situations and against high quality bowling.

Sachin Tendulkar needs no introduction. Requiring 79 runs to scale the already dizzy height of 13,000 runs in One-day Internationals, the 30-year-old pocket-sized dynamo had an average tour of Australia recently.

Pakistan have the bowling resources to take advantage of the great player's recent run of low scores. In Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami, the home side have probably the fastest pair of bowlers on the current stage. However, in this type of cricket, the virtue of good line and length bowling is the key ingredient in curtailing the number of conceding unnecessary extra runs.

It was Tendulkar who led the onslaught and stopped Shoaib Akhtar in his tracks during the World Cup tie. India won hands down with Shoaib injuring his pride by giving away 72 runs in 10 overs while Tendulkar blitzed his way to 98 before ironically falling to the same bowler.

But it is not only Tendulkar that Pakistan have to cope with. Vangipurappu Laxman had a dream tour of Australia. Blessed with supple wrists, the right-hander bears remarkable similarity to Mohammad Azharuddin in style, which is not surprising as both played together for sometime for Hyderabad.

Rahul Dravid, renowned for his flawless technique, is the anchor of the Indian team. Probably burdened by wicket-keeping duties, his batting faded away in the one-dayers in Australia. But he is the real danger for Pakistan together with Laxman and Tendulkar.

Pakistan's batting depends on the trusted shoulders of Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana. Of the new brigade, Yasir Hameed has the substance to enhance his growing reputation.

The absence through injuries of Anil Kumble and Ajit Agarkar has deprived the Indians of two key bowlers. There is sameness in the form of Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Irfan Pathan. Murali Kartik, the slow left-armer, is more suited to the conditions here.

Both teams have not yet finalized their playing XI. But Pakistan are likely to bring in all-rounder Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan if Shabbir Ahmed fails to recover from a finger injury.

With the pitch heavily in favour of the batsmen, the side scoring 300 runs batting first cannot expect to be assured of victory. The toss, as always, may have a bearing on the final outcome of the match.

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