A Different Ball Game

IT8217;S IN THE SCRIPT
Test cricket, and not the one-dayers, was where Pakistan was hoping to beat India in the first place. Overawed by India8217;s phenomenal batting performance in Australia, there were many here who thought that India would win the one-day part of the rubber hands down. Even such canny observers of the game as Imran Khan had predicted that India would walk away with the one-day series because of superior batting strength.

Imran was not the only one who was convinced of this line of argument. There were many in India who were equally convinced that India had better prospects of redeeming itself in the one-dayers despite Sunil Gavaskar8217;s branding them as chokers. And that was why the BCCI fought so hard to get the Tests played after the one-dayers, contrary to the PCB8217;s original proposal. So India8217;s winning the one-day rubber was exactly according to the initial billing.

PUNCTURED PRIDE
The Pakistanis are wounded, and hence would try doubly hard in the Tests. They believe, as Javed Miandad told this writer, that the one-day rubber was a close-run thing 8212; it could easily have gone their way had the rub of the green gone with them. Perhaps even the Indians would not dispute with that.

Hurting apart, this Pakistan side has a track record of quickly regrouping after an adversity and reasserting itself. Perhaps it is the very genesis of this young outfit, formed in the aftermath of the World Cup debacle a year ago, that lends it such resilience that many a previous Pakistan side had lacked. Earlier this season, it lost the one-day series to South Africa at home in identical fashion to the one against India, yet it bounced back to beat the Proteas in the Test rubber that followed.

PASSING THE TEST
Pakistan8217;s otherwise highly enviable track record at home was tarnished only between 1995-2000. But that was in the main because of internal strife. Pakistan has indeed resurrected itself from the pits because of very strong and very consistent showing not just at home but only recently in New Zealand too. It has not lost a match since going down 2-0 to South Africa in January 2003 and over this period it has propelled itself to third from eighth in the ICC rankings

THE PERSONNEL
Since it is a given that bowlers win Test matches, and since Pakistan can easily boast of having a most potent pace attack, perhaps the best in the business, it should start as favourites to take the Test rubber.

Though India stands reinforced in bowling with the arrival of Agarkar and Kumble, the duo could be rusty returning from injury.

The wickets will afford bounce and carry, so Pakistan8217;s pace quartet of Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Shabbir Ahmed and Abdul Razzaq should be able to pose some serious questions to India8217;s top six. They have quality back-up: Umar Gul in pace and Saqlain Mushtaq, Danish Kaneria and off-spinning all-rounder Shoaib Malik.

The Pakistani speedsters, erratic through most of the ODIs, checked their ways in the last match, bowling on one side of the wicket and not conceding too many wides and no-balls.

One special reason for India to beware of Shoaib Akhtar: he has had a big hand in Pakistan8217;s three back-to-back Test series victories this season so far. And, whether he says it or not, Indian scalps are special to him.

Similarly, Inzamam and his batsmen 8212; particularly Yousuf Youhana, who flopped against the kind of attack he loves the most 8212; would be eager to take on the Indian bowling and have their say on the series.

SCORING SKIPPER
Inzamam-ul-Haq may seem to be taking a nap on the field, but his mind is always ticking. He is not an extrovert like Ganguly but he has a razor-sharp cricketing brain that is aware of situations and contrives to take advantage of them.

As a skipper he leads from the front he has scored heavily since taking over captaincy, yet feels that he should do more. Multan is his home ground and in two previous outings here he has notched a ton apiece. In the second of them, he remained in the middle for nearly three sessions, and when Bangladesh was denied its first Test win, he was the last man standing.

He also has the courage of conviction to back his instincts even if they challenge conventional wisdom.

For instance, in three out of the five games in this ODI series, he chose to field.

He was criticised for that because chasing targets is not considered Pakistan8217;s strong suit.

But he was backing his bowlers to contain the opposition, and his batsmen to top off whatever the opposition puts on board. It didn8217;t always work but the Pakistani batsmen answered his call at Karachi and the bowlers at Lahore.