145;Pak have the edge, his name is Shoaib146;

8226; What do say about Shoaib8217;s inability to finish a series, how will that affect the attack against India?

I think Pakistan8217;s best chance would be to prepare slow and low pitches. If they make seaming pitches, we will suffer, because we concentrate on swing. Irrespective of whether Shoaib can finish the series or not, a low and slow wicket will help us. Of course, if Shoaib plays, I think Pakistan will have a clear advantage over India. Also, India has just come back from Australia and they are used to good bounce. Dravid will still be good, but the rest might have a problem.

8226; There8217;s a feeling that, apart from Shoaib and Mohammed Sami, there aren8217;t any real threats in the current Pakistan line-up

There are a few youngsters coming up and I am sure the selectors have a few choices. Rana Naveed-ul Hassan has already played for Pakistan. He8217;s a very good aggressive bowler and bowls at over 140 kmph. There is also quite a bit of raw material that needs to be polished. There are also Umar Gul and Shabbir Ahmed.

8226; How has Pakistan always produced so many premier fast bowlers?

There are three reasons for that. Firstly, the genetic advantage Pakistan has because Punjab and the northern areas produce naturally big-built boys, which is imperative for fast bowling. Secondly, the diet we have is ideal for pace bowling. Most fast bowlers come from villages and they have pure food and a lot of natural proteins like beef, chicken and fish.

Lastly, kids play with tennis balls wrapped in plastic tapes. What happens is that, by bowling with these balls, their shoulder muscles develop a lot because these are lighter than the cricket balls. All of us, myself, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis 8212; we have all played with tennis balls.

8226; And why can8217;t India?

I think the main point here is that most people in India are vegetarians, and even if they are not vegetarians, they don8217;t eat beef. They get substitutes for natural protein, but it8217;s not the same thing. And I believe that the protein that comes from beef adds to your aggression, and fast bowling is all about aggression. Also, I think in Pakistan we always had idols. I watched Imran Khan and Sarfaraz Nawaz as a kid and wanted to emulate them. India has never had any fast bowling heroes.

On the other hand, we don8217;t have good spinners anymore. Saqlain Mushtaq is good, but he8217;s gone down. We had Abdul Qadir and then we got Mushtaq Ahmed who was a carbon copy. Now everyone wants to be Shoaib Akhtar.

8226; Are most Pakistani cricketers, as the story goes, picked up off the streets?

Waqar and Shoaib had played domestic cricket, but the rest of us hadn8217;t. Actually, the structure we had in our domestic cricket was totally problematic. It8217;s only just starting to change. The boys who impressed at the domestic level were not capable of making it in international cricket. That was the reason why if anyone saw someone bowling fast or with intelligence, he was picked up, literally from the streets. They were brought in and persisted with. But not all of them survive, because some of them are not mentally strong enough to make such a sudden jump. But the system has to be good. See Australia, we have never beaten any of their state teams when on tour. Their state teams can play international cricket. It8217;s happening in Pakistan now.

8226; And your prediction for the series?

Indian batsmen versus Pakistan8217;s bowling. But Pakistan8217;s batting has improved recently with the young openers coming in. India are also confident after the Australia tour. So it should be a good series. But the difference could well be Shoaib8217;s fitness. Pakistan will have the edge.