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Looking Ahead : Preview to Peshawar

               A preview to the 3rd ODI at Peshawar by Venkat

     After yet another great humdinger at Rawalpindi.... the series has come alive, with Pakistan coming back from behind to square level the series one game all. It was great to see India lose after worrying the Pakistani bowlers till the very end, but yet the men in blue have a lot to do as far as their game is concerned if they are going to worry the home side and clinch the Samsung Cup. So lets join the Indo-Pak cricket bandwagon to the city of the Pathans, located in the Pak-Afghan border, PESHAWAR.

     Many Pundits say that they were "fortunate" to see the way the Little Master scored the runs he did, but the unfortunate part of the much talked about Indian batting was that the other 6 batsmen apart from Tendulkar didn't do a great deal. Rahul Dravid seems to be in good nick with the bat, but still failed to take the team through. Saurav, needs to somehow target the spinners, whom he usually relishes. He looked all at sea against Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi, whom instead should have been targets. India's batting in the death overs has been condemnable...they only required 82 in the last 10 overs, which I feel is achievable under the circumstances. Until they play the death bowling better, I feel chasing will be a problem for the Indians as these huge targets have a fair share of runs to be scored towards the end of an innings.

     Bowling is a department of the game, where India has to raise its game to a level where they are capable enough to pick wickets both in the first 15 overs and of course in the death overs. Statistically too, the Indian bowlers are conceding far too much. Over 1000 runs are conceded by India in 3 matches, which goes to show the unpenetrative feature of this bowling attack. To put salt on the wound, Ashish Nehra, India's best bowler on show so far, has been sent home and the inexperienced Bhandari has been called in. Ramesh Powar is a positive the Indians can take from Rawalpindi. The man from Mumbai showed no nerves at all, whether he was batting, bowling or fielding. He showed great character, which will only help him succeed in the highest level of cricket. Yuvraj was a bonus on Monday. The under bowled youngster surprised many by picking 2 important wickets at the time Afridi and Hameed were going ballistic. We hope this bowling performance from Yuvi has reinstated Saurav's confidence in him and hopefully we'll see him bowl regularly.

     India's fielding was OKAY. Cant blame them much for not fielding the bad balls. They lacked the intensity they showed on Karachi, which i feel was the cause of the result. One thing the Indian fielders must beware is a COMPLACENCY, a disease which has been with this team, right from the time it gelled as a unit. With all fairness, I feel that the Indians will be upto it at Peshawar.

     Since, the match at Peshawar seems to be a day fixture, I feel the team batting first must be ready to battle the seam or the initial movement the bowlers could get because of the early start. But, If the pitch is good, the only thing that will go in favour of the team batting first is runs on the board and for the side batting second, batting conditions will ease out as the day progresses on !

     In such close and tight finishes, typical of an India Vs Pakistan clash, winning "momentum" matters the least. In these matches, there are neither any underdogs nor any favorites. It has the side on the day, right from the first match these teams played, that takes the honours. So be ready for yet another tightrope finish, as its going to be very difficult for either sides to win "convincingly".