Delhi no sweat, but chinks show

They might hop against the bustling pace on occasions, but have a dangerous tendency to give it back, and rebel at being tied up against their reputations.

The interesting power-play of supremacy will be well fought, and define the tilt in each of the next five stops, starting in Guwahati.

That will then test the real temperament of the showman who goes by the name of Shoaib Akhtar. He sipped tea standing by the fine-leg rope during the match today, amused the policemen by wearing one of their caps, flexed his muscles in his sleeveless training shirt and then did bench-press inside the gym. He played to the gallery, for the passionate Delhi crowd that had turned up in numbers beyond the expectations of many.

Often, he would amble up on his long run-up, his deliveries flying at half-pace, and in between, encouraged by requests, ripped off a few nasty short-pitched deliveries.

Through his spells of 4-2-4 today, he smiled at the little nudge towards third-man boundary, and a six off the free-hit, but his ability to keep calm under adverse conditions will be the critical test.

Umar Gul, who got the move to come in and out at a steady pace, has blossomed into a nice seam man upfront to ensure that the Asif-factor isn’t the differentiating factor, as is Sohail Tanveer.

Pakistan’s weak link in the bowling seems to exist in the middle overs — the 20 overs that are likely to be shared between Malik, Shahid Afridi and probably Abdur Rehman. And with Yuvraj Singh in the form of his life, MS Dhoni and Robin Uthappa to boot the run-rate machine, it might remain India’s best chance of launching beyond 300.

On the batting front, Salman Butt — who gobbled up a generous feed of half-volleys and wide outside off-stump deliveries at the Kotla — walked back into form like every time ahead of India.

He and Imran Nazir form a good pair, but they posses a tendency to go at break-neck speed, and meet with needless accidents.

Kamran Akmal and his struggle against the in-swing would be keenly watched by Zaheer Khan and RP Singh, but the Yo-Yo guys against the spin of Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik will be another bat versus ball contest. Younis says he’s always enjoyed batting against India and had had considerable success.

“It is God’s grace that I play well against India. Whether I am in form or out of form, I have batted well against India and I am looking forward to continuing that”, he says.

“Everybody knows what is our strength and weakness, and we also know the strengths and weaknesses of India. So we will concentrate on playing our natural game and not targetting any particular player. We are not going after any player,” he insists.

But from India’s point of view, the chink in the armour might still be Misbah-ul Haq, with his tendency to take his time to settle down, and in a series likely to be dominated by the bat, that’s some respite.