Green, hard & bouncy !

The captain, the coach, the arsenal and of course the who’s who of Pak cricket, all — with the common belief that they will have to curb Indian run-making with genuine pace—have arrived at a consensus that it is fast bowling, after all, that they will need at its best to get rid of this Indian team.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) may not say it in the open, but they will accept behind closed doors that having Andy Atkinson, from Essex, as their chief curator when India last toured Pakistan proved to be the most disastrous decision then. Atkinson’s reputation, though, isn’t at stake here but the fact that Pakistan failed to realize their own potential then and put in place a gameplan for the Indians, backfired.

It is common knowledge, how an embarrassed Atkinson was blasted by the PCB then for not laying pitches that could assist Akhtar & Co. ‘‘It is a sporting pitch,’’ he had told this newspaper when Pakistan lost to India in 2004.

This time, though, it is the team management which is personally making sure that things are not out of place. Waqar Younis will officially be assisting coach Bob Woolmer in managing the pace trio of Akhtar, Sami and Naved-ul Hasan.

Meanwhile, former greats Imran Khan and Wasim Akram, according to the players, have been personally providing inputs to these bowlers on how to go about with their strategy. ‘‘Fast bowling is definitely our asset and we cannot ignore that,’’ says chief selector Wasim Bari.

The Indian Express spoke to a reluctant Bob Woolmer who is not yet ready to let the cat out of the bag. ‘‘It’s going to be a good Test match between two good teams,’’ is still his favourite line. But when reminded that the Test match is now just five days away and the pitch still ‘‘underprepared,’’ Woolmer immediately shot back: ‘‘Underprepared, where?’’

The PCB’s primary concern is the weather here, which is making it difficult for the groundsmen to work on the pitch. Pitches are kept covered for most part of the day and sufficient sunlight, currently, appears to be the most unpredictable thing. On January 7, the temperature in Lahore touched almost zero and any sunlight is now turning out to be a boon.

Former reverse swing expert Sarfraz Nawaz passed on some vital tips to Mohammad Sami. In the given situation, Nawaz is also convinced that Pakistan have to utilise their pace battery and he sees no reason why the hosts cannot end up on a better note.

Lastly, even the Kookaburra ball does not provide leg-spinner Danish Kaneria or off-spinner Arshad Khan — back in the squad — with a variety of options. The machine-driven seam may be troublesome for Pak’s affinity to reverse swing too, but fast bowlers can definitely count on it more than their spinning counterparts.