The competition gets just that bit more keen, the adrenaline runs that bit faster, the expectations rise a notch or two. After the false start, the shadow boxing and then the debacle of the Tests, the ODIs are back to fire the imagination of two teams and two nations.The momentum is clearly with Pakistan — even Sachin Tendulkar acknowledged as much today — and not least because their inspirational captain Inzamam-ul Haq is back in the side. Their batsmen are firing on all cylinders, their bowlers back to their sharpest best. Yet India will certainly believe they have a chance here. For one, they have enough in-form batsmen, who would have been drooling over the pitch — laid with clay imported from Gujranwala and looking like it will last 100 overs — and the short boundary.Their nets, at the Gymkhana Club instead of the Arbab Niaz stadium, was turned into a practice match. Sehwag and Sachin opened, facing Zaheer and Sreesanth with new ball.Then, following a plan Dravid that said had been in the works for some time, other members spread out in the inner circle and local cricketers patrolled the outfield. ‘‘We’ve been trying to bowl to different sorts of fields, see how it works out in an open area, before we can try out in the match. The bowlers too are trying to bowl a different line and length so we needed to see in which direction the ball gets hit.’’Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, likely to play tomorrow, tried out his new line of attack. Bowling over the stumps, he stuck to the batsman’s legs while the quicks kept it short of good length and close to the batsman’s body. Sreesanth was impeccable with his line and looked sharp, as did Ajit Agarkar.The focus on the bowling was understandable; with the batting evenly balanced, some tight bowling could decide the outcome. ‘‘The team that bowls well on this wicket will have an advantage’’, Dravid said. ‘‘There’s an added pressure on the bowlers, especially in subcontinental wickets, and they will play a critical part in the way this series shapes up.’’One worry for India is the injury to Harbhajan’s bowling finger, and even if he plays, he will retain the scars of the mauling he suffered in the Tests.No such worries for Pakistan; even Inzamam looks likely to play and he was bullish on his team’s prospects today. ‘‘We have many options and we have to see what suits us best,’’ he said.It’s true. Shahid Afridi, the local hero, could open the innings to blunt the Indian attack and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal is another utility player at the top of the order.The bigger strength of this Pakistani team, though, lies in its all-rounder department. As compared to India’s one budding all-rounder, the hosts have Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq and Afridi.Yet they were leaving nothing to chance at nets today, deploying three young left-arm spinners to provide the batsmen something akin to what Murali Kartik was trying out just across the road.If there is an area of concern, it is the number of dropped catches in the Test series, but the team has been working on it for three days now.And if it’s a battle of the bowlers, here’s what Shoaib Akhtar had to say. ‘‘The ball will swing a bit early, maybe four-five overs, and this white ball will scruff up easily. We would be looking to use the reverse-swing to good effect.’’
