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Balaji, Powar confident

By Our Special Correspondent

PESHAWAR, MARCH 18. Young Indian cricketers, L. Balaji and Ramesh Powar spoke to the media after the Indian practice session here on Thursday.

Balaji said the best way to bowl on batsman-oriented wickets would be to hit the deck hard and prevent the batsman from getting on to the front foot. "You also have to keep changing your pace."

The Tamil Nadu paceman said a bowler had to be patient while operating against a dasher like Shahid Afridi in a limited-overs match.

Balaji said that he proved expensive in the last game but that was not working on his mind ahead of the third match of the series in Peshawar.

He was confident that the absence of injured left-arm paceman Ashish Nehra would not put more pressure on the attack. "Myself and Irfan Pathan have bowled well together in Australia."

Off-spinning all-rounder Ramesh Powar, who earned praise for his ODI debut innings in Rawalpindi said "he felt comfortable facing Shoaib Akhtar."

While conceding that he was disappointed not to complete his quota of overs, Powar said he would strive to improve with the ball.

Powar and Balaji were involved in a fighting but ultimately futile ninth wicket partnership that took India close to the Pakistani total of 329 in Rawalpindi. Balaji said he enjoyed his brief batting stint although he was disappointed that India could not quite finish things off.

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