India’s weaknesses: No spinner, no Shoaib

Still, we feel that India’s bowling falls short primarily because there are no quality spinners and no one of Shoaib Akhtar’s pace.

Pakistan should be announcing its squad for the first two one-day internationals any day, though the targeted date is March 5. The selectors will be relying heavily on those who performed well on its tour of New Zealand, there being no other credible basis. There will be two exceptions. Shahid Afridi will be back, as will a tall, lanky, fast-medium bowler from Faisalabad called Rao Ifthikar.

His name will not be familiar to the Indians; nor, indeed, to many Pakistanis since he has been performing exceedingly well in domestic cricket, which is not televised and not covered in any detail in the print media.

Ifthikar bowls at about 135 kmph; he bowls outswingers and, because he is tall, gets bounce. His main virtue is that he bowls to a Glenn McGrath/Shaun Pollock line and length, nothing too heroic but at the batsmen all the time.

He is young (23) and inexperienced but, from what I have been able to gather, a quick learner and someone who can bowl long spells, something of a workhorse. He may not get into the playing eleven in the ODI’s — unless Shabbir Ahmed fails to deliver — but is a strong candidate for the Test team.

The selectors are keen to get the balance of the team right and will play with six bowlers. Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Shabbir Ahmed, Abdul Razzak and Shoaib Malik making up the five main bowlers with either Shahid Afridi or Naveed Rana, the sixth. Pakistan will not want to disturb the opening pair of Imran Farhat and Yasir Hameed, which means that Imran Nazir will miss out.

Also missing out in the ODI squad will be Saqlain Mushtaq, as also the young leg-spinner Danesh Kaneria. Saqlain has been in dreadful form and it is the opinion of our pundits that the Indians play leg-spin well and Kaneria, in any case, is not in the top drawer. Moin Khan will be the wicket-keeper, both in the ODI’s and Test matches.

It is a strong team that will rely heavily on Inzamamul Haq and Yusuf Youhana, the two most experienced batsmen and count on Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami to provide the fire-power.

The most talented player of the lot is Abdul Razzak. A man for all seasons, he can bat with ferocity and bowl with economy, picking up useful wickets. He has matured and many see him as a future captain though, as a person, he is something of an introvert.

Shahid Afridi will probably play in the first ODI though he is not likely to open and will be fitted in the middle order. Like Shoaib Akhtar, Afridi is a bit of a showman and a great favourite of the public, whose high expectations have often been his undoing.

Imran Khan spent a day with the Pakistan players at their training camp. He exhorted the players to go into the matches with a positive frame of mind and by this he meant that the team should plan to win and not be afraid of losing.

He told Inzamam that he should bat higher in the ODI’s and not at his customary number five and gave the example of Sachin Tendulkar, who opens the innings for India in the ODI’s.

I don’t think Inzamam is prepared to take this giant stride forward (or upwards) but will come in at number four with Youhana getting an automatic promotion to one down. It is good to see Imran taking an active interest in the team. There was the fear that we might have lost him to politics. I understand he may even be doing the commentary for one of the TV channels.

It is good to see him giving something back to the game. Not that he has been unwilling. It is good to know too that Kapil Dev is lending a helping hand to India’s bowlers.

Imran Khan and Kapil Dev, how these two names conjure up memories of battles past, two of the world’s best all-rounders in their prime.