The Hindu : Indians' morale high despite fitness concerns

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 16, 2004

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Indians' morale high despite fitness concerns

By S. Dinakar

Virender Sehwag celebrates a goal during a game of football. — AP

RAWALPINDI, MARCH 15. The Rawalpindi Express was being put through a stern test, with the hawk-eyed Javed Miandad donning the role of examiner. Planting two stumps about three metres wide, Miandad asked express paceman Shoaib Ahktar to bowl between them, with another planted at the good length area around the off-stump where he was ordered to pitch the ball.

Shoaib was paying the price for some wayward bowling in the first ODI, where the Pakistani bowlers were dismissed ruthlessly by the Indian batsmen. Now, the team's wily coach was making his prime bowler work hard.

For Pakistan, much depends on Shoaib, the home-town boy, ahead of the second ODI of the Samsung series, a day/night affair on Tuesday. As Pakistan manager Haroon Rashid pointed out, Shoaib's reputation was on the line in this series.

India, after a last gasp win in Karachi, leads 1-0, and the stage is set for what could turn out to be another humdinger under lights.

Vice-captain Rahul Dravid said the morale in the camp was high, but there are fitness concerns in the side. Skipper Sourav Ganguly did not train on Monday due to what was described by Dravid as a "mild fever'' while left-arm paceman Aashish Nehra, who produced a tremendous last over at the death in Karachi, could miss the second match due to a swollen ankle.

The Indian vice-captain confirmed it was the recurrence of an old injury. And star batsman V.V.S. Laxman, who has a painful left knee, might play if he is ruled fit on Tuesday.

Irfan Pathan should be the logical replacement for Nehra if the latter misses out, and the team-management will have to decide whether it can afford to go without a fifth regular bowler again.

Discipline and consistency

Limited bowling attacks have flourished in ODIs. The key words here are discipline and consistency which can create pressure from both ends. This in turn results in wickets, with the batsmen committing mistakes in an attempt to break the shackles.

The Indian batsmen dazzled in the first ODI, and Dravid was in the thick of things with a 99, that was both an aggressive and a cultured effort. Virender Sehwag got cracking as well, though Sachin Tendulkar has, of yet, not found his timing and range in Pakistan.

The Rawalpindi pitch, shorn of grass and greyish in colour, appears similar to the one in Karachi. The only difference being a couple of light cracks near the good length area from the pavilion end. It is doubtful whether these cracks would develop to the extent that they could be exploited by the bowlers.

Weather may play a role

The weather could also play a role here. Rawalpindi is a town surrounded by mountains, and there invariably is a breeze blowing across the ground which should assist swing. Then there will be the dew factor under the lights; the dynamics of the game will certainly be different from that at Karachi. A score of 270 could prove combative at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. There is a possibility of rain in the evening.

While the Indian batting, given its depth, should both hold firm and entertain in these conditions — even without a couple of stars — the same cannot be said of the bowling.

Dravid conceded that the bowling was inexperienced. Left-arm bowler Murali Kartik has been proving to be expensive but Dravid defended India's frontline spinner in the ongoing ODI campaign. "We know Kartik's capabilities. We know he can bowl well."

Dravid expressed satisfaction about his own form, denied he was using a lighter bat, and talked about his day out at the Taxila monastery.

SHOULDERING A HEAVY RESPONSIBILITY: Shoaib Akhtar, who is playing his 100th one-day international, shares a lighter moment with Abdur Razzaq. — Photo: S. Subramanium

He conceded that it was not easy to keep wickets after a long knock, but added: "It is a challenge. At the end of the day, when your team wins, and you know you have contributed, the tiredness goes away."

Pain of defeat lingers

The pain of defeat must be lingering in the Pakistani camp. The side has a rather unsettled attack at present and would be happy to have Shabbir Ahmed, likely to return to the side after recovering from a finger injury, in the eleven.

Rana Naved picked up three wickets in Karachi, without appearing to be penetrative and Shabbir is a better option, with his ability to extract bounce due to his height.

There is a possibility of the hard-hitting all-rounder Shahid Afridi coming in place of opener Yasir Hameed. It remains to be seen whether the neglected Saqlain Mushtaq gets a look-in.

Pakistan coach Miandad said apart from Shoaib he expected pacemen such as Mohammad Sami to pull their weight. About his excited gesticulations from the dressing room, he said, "that is the way that I have always played. It is no different when I am the coach, but I cannot enter the ground. I work very hard at the nets with the boys. Why don't people talk about that."

The teams:

India (from): Sourav Ganguly (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Hemang Badani, Murali Kartik, Zaheer Khan, L. Balaji, Irfan Pathan, Aashish Nehra, Ramesh Powar, Parthiv Patel. Coach: John Wright.

Pakistan (from): Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain), Imran Farhat, Shahid Afridi, Yasir Hameed, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Abdur Razzaq, Moin Khan, Shoaib Malik, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Shabbir Ahmed, Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan, Saqlain Mushtaq, Misbah-ul-Haq, Rao Iftekar. Coach: Javed Miandad.

Umpires: Simon Toufel & Asad Rauf. Television umpire: Zamir Hyder. Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle.

Hours of play: From 2.30 p.m. (IST) to 6 p.m. & 6.45 p.m. till the end of match.

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