— Photo: S. Subramanium

PREPARING FOR BATTLE: M.S. Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh hard at work at a practice session at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

Lahore: There is a quiet resilience about Rahul Dravid that often screams for attention. There is also that understated elegance in him on and off the field that cannot go unnoticed.

The Indian campaign in Pakistan gets underway with a three-day practice game at the historic Bagh-e-Jinnah ground here on Saturday and Dravid will be in the thick of things marshalling his men. On Friday, he handled the pre-series press conference with great charm and dignity.

The Indians face a potentially tough tour opener against a bunch of hungry Pakistan `A' cricketers. But then, a hard game of cricket ahead of the first Allianz Test, beginning at the Gadaffi Stadium on January 13, would only serve the team's interest.

The Indians arrived in Lahore at 10.10 p.m. local time on Thursday to a warm and rather colourful reception on a cold night (the temperature was 7 degrees Celsius) at the Alama Iqbal airport. They were escorted to the hotel by a seemingly endless convoy of special forces' vehicles; the security was understandably tight.

Dravid said the idea to have Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag and Parthiv Patel playing in the Ranji Trophy was to get all players match-fit before the Test series.

The Indians will have to pick Sehwag's opening partner for the first Test. When Wasim Jaffer and Gautam Gambhir walk in at the top of the order, they will be vying for a place in the eleven.

As coach Greg Chappell pointed out, the side cannot expect the middle and the lower order to bail it out of trouble on all occasions and the openers had to build a sound foundation.

The Pakistani pacemen are likely to challenge the Indian batsman as the matches hot up. Talking to the media, the legendary Imran Khan said Pakistan held the edge in the Test series since this was the best period for pace bowling. The conditions aid swing and the moisture in the pitch encourages seam bowling. Moreover, the pacemen can bowl for long periods without being bothered by the heat factor.

Imran also said the Pakistanis will have to be wary of Irfan Pathan since he can move the ball in the air. Comeback man Zaheer Khan, a seam bowler, is likely to partner Pathan in the first Test, although Ajit Agarkar has an opportunity to cling on to his Test place with a strong performance against a Pakistan `A' line-up that includes batsmen with ability in captain Hasan Raza and gritty middle-order batsman Asim Kamal.

The Indian batsmen could be tested by the likes of Mohammed Irshad and Rao Iftekar Anjum, a promising outswing bowler. And the talented Umar Gul, who tormented India here in 2004, will be making a comeback bid.

Inzamam-ul-Haq has been inspirational for Pakistan, and Imran, rightly, stressed on his role. Yet, the Pakistani skipper will seek more options in the pace bowling department since Mohammed Sami is in the middle of a rough phase.

Great opportunity

As Dravid said, the tour of Pakistan provided a great opportunity for his side to develop as a team and test itself against a good opposition. He also warned against an overkill of India-Pakistan cricket.

"We have the ability and the balance on this tour," he said. While highlighting the importance of the tour to the youngsters — "they can experience the conditions and the country" — Dravid underlined the significance of Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

Dravid conceded that Pakistan had a "good attack," but quickly spoke about his side's batting strength. It would be "performance on the day, rather than past records that would matter," said Dravid.

Queried about Ganguly, Dravid dwelt on the ups and the downs that accompany a player's career. "Eventually, everything boils down to performance. We will pick our best eleven for the first Test," he said.

Coach Greg Chappell focussed on the "team-spirit and the solidarity" of the team, and said "flexibility" was the side's trump card.

Chappell repeated that he had no problems with Ganguly. "The team knows what I expect from it as a group." He called Dravid "a quiet but a strong character who could become one of India's finest captains."

PTI adds:

On behalf of the Indian cricket team, Dravid paid condolences to the victims of the October 8 earthquake in Kashmir. ``We pay our condolences to the earthquake victims. We show our solidarity and unity with the people of Pakistan over the tragedy,'' Dravid said.

Special Correspondent adds from Mumbai:

Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has told the Indian players that they cannot have an "exclusive arrangement'' with private television channels, but are free to talk to the media after taking the consent of the media manager. But the BCCI has allowed captain Rahul Dravid to write columns in newspapers, if he wishes to do so.

The teams (from): India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, M.S. Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, R.P. Singh.

Pakistan `A' (from): Hasan Raza (captain), Imran Farhat, Mohammed Wasim, Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal, Bazid Khan, Zulkarnain Haider, Mansoor Amjad, Mohammed Irshad, Umar Gul, Rao Iftekar, Yasser Arafat.

Match starts at 10.30 a.m. IST

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