Jalandhar, March 20: Three-in-a-row has a pleasant ring to it. But the Indians are not going over board. Cautious optimism, is then, the right phrase to describe the mood in the Indian camp on the eve of the sixth of the eight-Test series against Pakistan to be held at the Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium here tomorrow.Having taken a vital 3-2 lead, the Indians have taken an edge in the battle of minds and are expected to go all out to make the series safe. However, an injury to captain Dhanraj Pillay is a cause for worry.He hurt his left big toe in a rough tackle by the Pakistan full back Naveed Alam in the Delhi encounter. And, even though coach Vasudevan Baskaran was optimistic that Pillay would be in the starting line-up, a clear picture would emerge only tomorrow morning.Injuries seemed to be the order of the day, as Pakistan too have suffered a setback with experienced Danish Kaleem ruled out of the series with a fractured left thumb. He will be replaced by Ali Raza in the starting 16.Pakistanpreferred a light workout at their hotel, while the Indians got the feel of the worn-out turf late in the evening. Several Pakistani players are familiar with the players here, having played here in January, when they toured with the Punjab province side.The encounter at Delhi once again highlighted the need for India to lift their mid-field play. In this backdrop, Mohammed Riaz could be tried in place of Thirumal Valavan in the pivotal position. Thirumal has worked hard all through the series shadowing Shahbaz Ahmed, but he has failed to give the necessary thrusts to the attacks. Besides, Riaz, who was tried in the inside right position, could be better utilised in the position he revels in.Another chance expected is on the left flank, as outside left Harbhajan Singh was off-colour in Delhi. But then, the coach's options are limited as both Gavin Ferreira and Brojen Singh have just recovered from injuries.As for Pakistan, the much-required fluidity in the attack has not come about, what with ShahbazAhmed being marked tightly. Besides, with outside left Asif Ahmed Khan struggling, Baber Abdullah is expected to work in tandem with Shahbaz tomorrow.Teams:India: AB Subbaiah, Jagdish Ponnappa, Dilip Tirkey, Lazarus Barla, Dinesh Nayak, Baljit Singh Saini, Mukesh Kumar, Ramandeep Singh, Dhanraj Pillay, Harbhajan Singh, Thirumal Valavan, Sabu Varkey, Mohammed Riaz, Anwar Khan, Sameer Dad, Rajesh Chauhan, Gavin Ferreira, Brojen Singh.Pakistan: Ahmed Alam, Ali Raza, Naveed Alam, Md Usman, Irfan Mehmood, Md. Waseem, Rahim Khan, Tahir Zaman, Kamran Ashraf, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohd. Khalid Jr, Md. Qasim, Tariq Imran, Sohail Abbas, Mohd, Sarwar, Arif Ahmed Khan, Baber Abdullah.
