The Hindu : Sport : India better-equipped of the two teams

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Sunday, Mar 06, 2005

Sport

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India better-equipped of the two teams

The serenity and natural beauty of Dharamsala might have helped ease pre-tour tensions for the Pakistan players but it will not help them sleep any more easily leading into the first Test. Coming off a poor tour of Australia, Inzamam and his team will need to perform well in India or Bob Woolmer and the selectors may have to go back to the drawing board.

Nothing short of a series win will suffice to keep the demanding Pakistan fans happy. Woolmer has already been exposed to the vagaries of coaching a team from the sub-continent and he knows the importance of this high-profile series.

No matter how he tries to dress it up, his team will be the underdog in the series and his players will have their work cut out unless they address some of the failings that were evident in Australia. Their apparent unwillingness to fight when the going gets tough will be number one on that list. If a team does not like a contest it is not going to succeed. Inzamam and his team did not show very much fight in the Test series against Australia and in backing away from the contest they missed a great learning opportunity.

Inzamam especially has a lot of work to do.

There were some critics in Australia who felt that the Pakistan captain was one who took the easy option when he missed the last two Tests of that series. I would prefer to believe that he had a genuine injury that kept him from leading from the front but it did not look good. He will need to be an iron man on this tour or his days at the helm may be numbered.

Favourite

Despite Sourav Ganguly's protestations to the contrary India will start favourite to win this series for a number of reasons.

First, but not necessarily most important, Indians are playing at home. Second they have more experience and have had more success in recent times. Third, and critically important, they have more talent and more potential match-winners than Pakistan.

Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly are the stand-out batsmen for India, while Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan and Kumble will lead the bowling attack. Each one of them is a potential match-winner in his own right and they will make for a formidable combination.

For Pakistan, Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana appear the most solid of a pretty young batting line-up while Kaneria and Sami are the most likely to be its match-winners. The rest of the attack will be honest at best.

Akhtar factor

Shoaib Akhtar will be missed for his ability to get even the best batters out but I am not sure Woolmer wouldn't prefer the honesty of those he has on tour. A change of attitude and a better understanding of what constitutes a team will be essential if Shoaib is to offer Pakistan anything in the future.

India did not bat very well against Australia late last year and while batting will be important — it generally is — the team that will win this series is the one that can take 20 wickets and is mentally tougher and more persistent over the five days of each Test.

To me, India looks the better equipped in all three departments. It can pull it off if it does not let itself be weighed down by the high expectations of its fans.

(CafeCricket)

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