A lot to live up to

Pakistan’s tour to India this year has a lot to live up to, and itisn’t just cricket that is in the spotlight

Series Preview by Amit Varma02-Mar-2005

Pakistan’s tour to India this year has a lot to live up to, and it
isn’t just cricket that is in the spotlight. Last year more than 8000
Indians crossed the border, and were greeted
rapturously. The entire tour was played in a warm haze of
affection, and one of the popular photographs the press kept showing
was of a fan with one half of his face painted with a Pakistani flag,
and the other half Indian. So where was he really from? Nationality
didn’t matter.The Chandigarh administration, preparing for the Test at adjoining
Mohali, has reportedly asked the residents of the city to accommodate
as many guests from Pakistan as they can in their homes. Over 10,000
visas are expected
to be disbursed, and the city’s hotels are full. Cityfolk have
responded with enthusiasm. The
worry about whether the Indian people will reciprocate the welcome
of last year seems misplaced.And then there is the cricket. Both teams haven’t had the easiest of
journeys since their last encounter, but are well placed to come back
strongly in this series. India-Pakistan encounters are showcase
events, the highlight of the careers of players who do well in these.
There will be no lack of intensity.

Assessing India: Fighting to regain lost ground
India, resplendent in the glow of that series win against Pakistan,
stumbled through the first half of the next season as if they had been
placed in a time machine and the years had rolled back. The passion
that Sourav Ganguly had inspired, the discipline that John Wright had
inculcated, both seemed missing in action, though the men themselves
were there, one frustrated, the other forlorn.India lost to Australia without putting up the fight you’d expect
after their drawn away series a few months earlier. They then beat
South Africa at home, and rolled over Bangladesh. But all wasn’t well,
and murmurs grew that the series against Pakistan would be Wright’s
last as a coach. At the same time, there were whispers about Ganguly’s
place in the Test side, though he was, by virtue of being captain,
secure for the moment. Rahul Dravid led India A to a
win in the Challenger Trophy, and his captaincy was calm
and assured. There’s a lot at stake in this series, and when Ganguly
says “The worst is over,” as he did in a
recent interview to Wisden Asia Cricket, he is reassuring
himself as much as us.Like Pakistan, India have suffered from frequent injuries to their
fast bowlers. Lakshmipathy Balaji got injured soon after his inspired
performance against Pakistan last year, and hasn’t been the same
since. Ashish Nehra stumbles in and out of fitness, like a child
discovering the joys of the revolving door of a hotel entrance. Zaheer
Khan came back to fitness against Australia, but continues to be
marked “Fragile: Handle With Care”. (And “This Side Up”? Nah.) Irfan
Pathan, the most promising of India’s new-ball bowlers, has also had
his niggles, and will be the man India most need fit.And then, there’s the batting line-up. Sachin Tendulkar’s elbow is now
reportedly well enough for him to play, and if it does threaten to
affect his career, as has been reported in some sources, he will
approach this series with a special urgency. When great players play
for posterity, the plebians should watch out. Or simply watch.There is a healthy competition for middle-order places, although
Mohammad Kaif, after his battling performances against Australia,
should have been picked ahead of Yuvraj Singh in the squad. They are
both talented players – though never again should Yuvraj be made to
open in a Test – and should fitness or form desert an incumbent, are
capable of cementing a place for themselves in the side.India’s spinners could well be the difference between the sides. Anil
Kumble was India’s biggest matchwinner through the 90s – albiet at
home – while Harbhajan Singh promised to be a star of equal magnitude
when he won India the 2001 series against Australia. The two haven’t
bowled together much at home, and haven’t been the lethal pair that
one would expect of them. But they are fresh and match-fit, and eager
to make sure that India doesn’t play with three fast bowlers for a
while yet. But what if there is grass on the Mohali pitch?

Assessing Pakistan: On the riseOne of the key elements in building a strong team is solidarity,
selflessness. Australia know this, and South Africa embodied it as
well, in the years when Hansie Cronje was captain and Bob Woolmer was
coach. Their team began to disintegrate after Cronjegate, and Woolmer
has been with Pakistan for a year now, trying to make a team out of a
collection of individuals. In that context, it might actually be to
Pakistan’s advantage that Shoaib Akhtar will not be in the dressing
room. Akhtar is a potent fast bowler, no doubt, but his braggadocio
and arrogance is bad for team spirit.Following Pakistan cricket is a bittersweet experience: time and
again, talented young men with great gifts walk out into the sunshine;
and each time, they disappear after a few moments of lustre. Pakistan
cricket is a macho entity, it does not nurture. Make that the past
tense; Woolmer is here.Pakistan’s young talents, the likes of Yasir Hameed, Salman Butt and
Asim Kamal, have clearly been given space to grow under Woolmer, and
the team suddenly does not seem as mercurial as before. They did lose
their recent Test series against Australia heavily, but which side,
leave alone one as young as this one, doesn’t lose to those fellas?
Their talent is unquestionable, and they have just the right man as
coach to nurture that talent.Pakistan’s fast-bowling line-up, normally their strength, is a little
bare this time. Shoaib is absent, and Umar Gul and Shabbir Ahmed are
missing. Mohammad Sami has disappointed of late, but has the ability
to turn a game around in a session, while Rana Naved-ul-Hasan bowled
well in the limited opportunities he got in Australia. Pakistan’s main
bowler, though, will be Danish Kaneria, who was their top wicket-taker
against Australia, and should be even more potent on Indian pitches.The Pakistan middle order, consisting of Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq
and Yousuf Youhana, is as solid as the openers (Hameed, Butt and
Taufeeq Umar) are promising. Inzamam’s calm and dignified demeanour
makes him the right man to lead Pakistan at such a crucial phase in
their cricket, and when he has enough of it, Pakistan will have a
ready replacement, for they are grooming
a successor. Pakistan’s eye, already, is on the future. That augurs
well for the present.Amit Varma is contributing editor of Cricinfo. He writes the
independent blogs, India
Uncut and The Middle
Stage.