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Looking Ahead: Pakistan in India 2004-05: 1st
ODI at Kochi |
A Preview by
Venkat Ananth
One-Day International cricket returns to
Indian soil after a gap of 18 months, when the
TVS Cup was held across the country in late
2003. Apart from the Kolkata ODI in November
2004, India has not witnessed enough one-dayers
in the past few months and the drought ends
here. Its time for some sizzling and action
packed one-day international cricket as two of
the top Asian giants clash against each other
for pride and the silverware. Cricketfundas.com
presents its readers with an exclusive preview
ahead of the first One-Day International to be
played between India and Pakistan at Kochi.
Pitch:
The pitches in India, especially for one-dayers
are ones where runs will be hard to contain, in
short pure batting beauties and it is expected
to get slower and lower as the game progresses,
and the one in the Nehru Stadium at Kochi is no
exception. There is one more factor to the game
other than the pitch - the weather. This is
summer time in Kerala and the weather forecast
does not befriend players, as the sun will be
relentless with its heat all day. Along with the
temperature of an India-Pakistan match, this
game will surely test the work done by the
teams' physios and trainers. Perhaps an early
morning start could give an early advantage to
the team bowling first, but runs on the board
will be THE factor that will decide victory or
defeat.
India:
The mood in the Indian camp after the Test
series might just give us an indication of how
they go into this game and the series. Yes, they
lost the Bangalore Test to Pakistan, but for the
Saurav Sena, all is not over yet. The Indians
are mature enough to put the defeat behind them
and start the ODI series afresh. The batting
looks in more-or-less good form and surely the
Sehwag factor might just make the difference. If
he stays on the wicket for long, Pakistan will
surely lose all the confidence they have managed
to carry from Bangalore. Rahul Dravid showed
good one-day form last year (as he emerged as
the leading run scorer in 2004) and the Indians
will hope that his form continues. Its
performance time for the "skipper", and maybe we
could just see the best of Dada in this game.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni looks all set to play as a
specialist keeper, which allows Dravid to
concentrate on his batting. After a
disappointing Test series, Irfan Pathan will be
ready to prove a point, while Lakshmipathy
Balaji continues to spearhead the Indian pace
attack. Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik will
form the two spinners that will take the field
for India on Saturday. It will be extremely
important for India to start well in the series
and set the pace and intent for the rest of the
matches, and one feels, a win in the first
outing will be crucial to India's hopes in the
6-match ODI series.
Pakistan:
After gaining the upper hand in the 9 one
dayers played last year, the Pakistanis will
look to repeat those performances. For a team
under Inzamam, who have learnt success the hard
way, this series will be the ideal one to prove
a major point both to themselves and the people
back home, that they have it in them to win
matches. Call it misfortune or whatever,
Pakistan have lost the services of their
run-machine Younis Khan for the opening match
due to high fever. It will be interesting to see
if the replacement player (Mohammad Hafeez)
remains as effective as the vice-captain.
Pakistan can take some heart from their previous
performances against India last year, where
their batting proved to click and take the
Indian bowlers apart. Useful scores from the top
order batsmen like Salman Butt and Mohammad
Hafeez will surely help as the strong middle
order can take charge during the middle overs
and create a foundation for the Explosive
Twosome of Abdul Razzaq and Shahid Afridi lower
down. Pakistan's bowling has been a major chink
in their armoury this time around and it will be
interesting to see if they can come up with the
goods yet again after Bangalore. Pakistan might
just play two-spinners and two-seamers as the
conditions favour batting and to provide
variety. All is set for Pakistan to play their
best one-day cricket and take charge early in
the series, as pressure may just weigh too much
on Indian shoulders later on.
The last few games at Kochi have given us some
close ones. And this one promises nothing
different from the past. Call it a nail-biter or
a humdinger, India-Pakistan matches are too
close to call and one only hopes to see the team
that plays the best cricket on Saturday win.
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