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Looking Ahead : A Preview to the 2nd Test at Lahore |
A Preview to the 2nd Test at Lahore by Venkat
After a historic Indian win at Multan, the Indo-Pak cricket carnival takes a four hour drive to Lahore, for the Second Samsung Cup test match, which begins on 5th April. Lahore, in a way has been a ground, which India should relish playing on, as they recorded their historic first ever One Day series win on Pakistani soil. With having the Pakistanis almost dead and buried, the Indians will look forward to pack the series up at the Gaddafi Stadium. Will India leave its mark on Lahore with yet another win ? or Will Pakistanis claw back and fight the wrath of humiliation to draw level with India ? Cricketfundas.com gives its readers an exclusive analytical preview ahead of the 2nd test match between India and Pakistan at Lahore.
Pitch :-
After the Multan wicket took all the blame for the humiliating defeat of Pakistan, the curator Andy Atkinson has been forced to make some drastic changes on the Lahore wicket by leaving some grass on it to suit Pakistan's "strength" - fast bowling. But the wicket should not seem entirely alien to the Indians, as they might have played some matches at Chennai, where the wicket is similar to Lahore as far as bounce and pace is concerned. The run-flow on these sub-continental wickets cannot be stopped even by the presence of grass. The pitch will ease out for batting as the game progresses into Day 3 and Day 4. The Pakistanis have to take a big calculated risk by playing on a green top, as this pitch could easily backfire on their brittle and inexperienced batting order against some quality seam and swing bowling by Indian bowlers like Irfan Pathan, Laxmipathy Balaji and Ajit Agarkar.
Team Analysis
India :-
India have come back to their own after the tour opener and the glitches at Pindi and Peshawar in the One Dayers. At Multan, they outplayed Pakistan in every department of the game - both technically and mentally and certainly look far more superior than their counterparts. "Winning is not important, wanting to win is" - this quote is enough to describe the attitude of the Team India. The morale of the Indian team will be extremely high, but at the same time, their feet should be firmly on the ground, with an expectation of the Pakistanis to fight hard after their humiliation at Multan. Even the smallest hole is enough for COMPLACENCY to creep through, which could well be ensured by being on guard. India have been the more disciplined of the sides on show all through the One Dayers and the one Test Match played. I feel, if India can maintain the same attitude, intensity, determination to win and discipline, it would be difficult for Pakistan to get back into reckoning at Lahore. We expect a team change with Zaheer ruled unfit for the Test - Ajit Agarkar or Ashish Nehra could be drafted into the side in Zaheer's place. India, with all its tails up, should go for the kill and try and wrap the series up at Lahore !
Pakistan:-
The Pakistanis look to me as a side, that is merely living on a life support system i.e. battling for survival, which is exactly what their position is like. After the Multan massacre, the team which once used to pride its "fighting" spirit, is battling against hope of saving or even winning the series. But, I feel it is too early to write the Pakistanis off. It could be that this test match has made them realize the importance of PERFORMANCE over pre-match BOASTING and MUD-SLINGING. The Pakistanis will have to lift themselves mentally and technically to come close to beating the Indians with an inexperienced team. Pakistan, which boasts of pace bowling being its strength, was not capable enough to dislodge 10 Indian wickets, which exposed bare its claims. Its batting looks all at sea, against quality swing and seam bowling, except for Yasir Hameed, Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana. Their fielding and catching seems to be nothing short of pathetic and poor, which unless improved will haunt them in the biggest way possible. As they set their feet into the Gaddafi Stadium, the ghost of Multan is certain to haunt them, but it is how they combat it, that will decide their fate in the series.
But, there is an interesting problem that both teams face. India have been reputed in the recent past to throw away the early advantage in a Test series, especially in Zimbabwe, West Indies and Australia. This is an ideal opportunity for the Indians to prove that they are not a "one test" winning team with all its 11 men on the field in complete command over their own game. On the other hand, Pakistan have never lost the lead to any team since losing to Australia in 2001. And whenever they have lost the lead, they have found coming back into the series quite a mountain to climb by itself. This test match, hopefully will have 2 teams in the game for all 5 days and will provide a better contest between bat and ball, as the wicket will have some grass on, but will ease out for batting as the game progresses. To end it all, its ADVANTAGE INDIA all the way even if they are playing on a grazing field or a flat hard wicket.
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