Ranked 177th in the world before the start of the series, the hosts held the visitors, ranked 135th, to a 1-1 draw in the first match at Quetta but lost the second at Peshawar on Thursday by a slim margin 1-0.

It is the first football series between the two neighbours in 57 years, and the newly-built Punjab Stadium will be hosting its maiden international contest.

If Pakistan win the last match, the series will be decided on penalty kicks. A final decision in this regard will be taken by managers’ meeting on Saturday.

Jaffar Khan, goalkeeper, will lead Pakistan. He replaced Tanveer Ahmed, who captained Pakistan in the first Islamic Solidarity Games held in Saudi Arabia in April this year.

Jaffar who belongs to Dera Ismail Khan, is the most experienced player in the current team, most of whom lack international exposure.

Jaffar started his international career with a tour of England in 2001. He also played World Cup qualifying round, Test series against Sri Lanka in 2002-03, 14th Asian Games 2002-3, 5th SAFF championship 2003-4, Asian Cup qualifying round 2003, Athens Olympic qualifying round-2003, 9th SAF Games 2004 and Islamic Solidarity Games 2005.

The second most experienced is Tanveer Ahmed (Wapda), defender, who led Pakistan in the Islamic Games-2005. He embarked on his international career with a Test series against Sri Lanka in 2002-3.

He also participated in the 14th Asian Games 2002, 5th SAFF Championship 2003, Asian Cup qualifying round-2003 World Cup qualifier the same year and the Islamic Solidarity Games.

The rest have just two or three international competitions to their credit.

“Yes our team lacks international exposure but the way it put up a fight in two matches, who are much better, is quite satisfactory,” Pakistan coach Tariq Lutfi said in a press conference.

“The team will play the last match under some pressure because we are 1-0 down. But it (the pressure) can not stop us coming back into the series,” he said.

Indian coach Sukhwinder Singh admitted that Pakistan had so far played well and that he was not expecting that much fightback from them. “The 1-0 win in Peshawar is not a bigger margin and we have to enter the arena with the same fighting spirit we showed during two last matches,” he said.

Pakistan’s defender Mahmood Khan is unlikely to play because of an injury he sustained in Peshawar. He limped out of the field in the second session as he had some trouble walking with his right foot.

In past, Pakistan had displayed poor performance against India, losing 11 matches out of total 20 played, including the current series.

Seven ended in stalemate while Pakistan could win only two, both by identical margin of 1-0.

Pakistan won the first match in Asia Cup qualifying round in 1959 at Ernakulm in India. Last time Pakistan carved out a win was in SAFF championship-2003 held at Dhakka, Bangladesh.

Teams:

India: (Goalkeepers) VP Satish Kumar, Sangram Mukherjee, Sandip Nandy; (defenders) Mahesh Gwali, Manju Nanjangud Shivananju, Sukumar Singh, Syed Rahim Nabi, Habibur Rehman Mondal, Philip Gomes, Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep; (midfielders) Shanmugam Venkatesh (captain), Jatin Singh Bisht, Clifford Miranda, Bibiano Fernandes, Climax Lawrence, Jules Alberto Dias, Sukhwinder Singh; (strikers) Abhishek Yadav, Sunil Chetri, MA Abdul Hakkim, Surajit Bose.

Pakistan: (Goalkeepers) Jaffar Khan (captain), Muhammad Shahzad, Mehmood Ahmed; (defenders) Tanveer Ahmed, Mohammad Shahid, Yasir Sabir, Naveed Akram, Ijaz Ahmed, Mohammad Imran, Mahmood Khan; (midfielders) Mohammad Zahid, Zahid Hameed, Atiqur Rehman, Attiq Ullah, Abdul Nasir; (strikers) Arif Mahmood, Imran Hussain, Farooq Shah, Mohammad Essa, Abdul Aziz, Shahid Ahmed, Shabbir Hussain.