I still fear...
Originally published on Friday, January 13, 2006
Within 6 hours from now, the annual (I don't know if it will continue to be that way) India-Pak summit clash is about to get under way at Lahore and heaps of free time has made me read on every scrap on the reams of (web) pages expended by various pundits in anticipation of the event. That's what I am filled with, anticipation.
On paper, I would say that both teams start neck and neck. Riding on the high of their recent home bashings, there is no shortage of winning habit. For all the might of Inzamam, Afridi (note that he is number 2 on my list), Shoaib, Kaneria and Yousuf whatever, India have gotten Dravid, Kumble, Sehwag, Dhoni and Pathan (excuse me for some notable absentees) in their ranks. And as my cricketing knowledge tells me (unlike that of some, on some pathetic websites, who can write with enormous aplomb about how Yuvraj Singh will beat the hell out of Pakistan one day and the very next day can come up with a masterpiece of immature writing about how Mohammed Asif will win it for Pakistan), it's hard to predict anything about the outcome. One thing seems certain though, whoever wins the 1st test, with due consideration for the 2 coaches who have brought in fighting spirits in their teams, will have to lose the series from there rather than being beaten. Which is exactly why teams have to be at their ruthless best right here tonight (my time).
Having been a follower of the match-fixing era of Sharjah and the post-Javed-Miandad-last-ball-six-time, I still have some apprehensions about India playing Pakistan, especially when the neighbors are close to their best. And hence my list of Indians to watch out for contains those names that I mentioned. Dravid, I think he will experience an Inzamam Ul Huq effect on his batting with the captaincy coming his way, if at all he can bat better. Kumble, the tiniest smell of blood and he will be there running in over after over after over. Probably the best ever to have bowled on subcontinental pitches (his offset away from subcontinent to that in subcontinent makes me weigh in his favor rather than Murali's), he will not be kept out of the match at any stage. The other 3 are young, talented and thankfully never been a part of the apprehension against Pakistan times. They will believe that they are better than their opponents and hence are pivotal to Team India's success.
Talk about subplots for India, and Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman come to the mind. Still formidable mind you, Sachin is past his dominating best, which is not a cause of concern at all. He will score runs, just based on his willpower and reputation, but I believe that gone are the days when he could be termed as the deadliest Indian weapon who, within a couple of sessions, would set up the test match for his side. He is in more of a stock batsman role, the role that Shaun Pollock plays for South African bowling. Laxman, well he is an enigma, and you better not predict about him. But I get the feeling that he will also play the supporting cast.
On the other hand, how dearly would Pakistan love their captain to play the way he has been doing for the last couple of years? I hope that the law of averages in deed catches on him and at least 30% of the battle will be won for India. I also hope that Greg Chappell has devised a strategy for Shahid Afridi and it works out in the middle, for it is this man who can remind the Indians of their butchering days with Ijaz Ahmed and Saeed Anwar. It's this sense of fear that made even a bowler as pathetic as Arshad Khan (only Rameez Raja, the Pakistani counterpart of somebody like Maninder Singh, has the wherewithal to spit into the mic heaps of praise for this gentleman) to eat them away during that shameful 2nd innings of Bangalore test and Afridi is well capable of pushing India into that mode. Danish Kaneria, it's a challenge for him but so far he has done extremely well against the Indians, mostly because he has gotten a reputation against them. I don't know where it sets in, but there are some players (quite a few of them Pakistanis, on another thought quite a few of them southpaws) who just fail to do badly against the Indians. The Haydens, the Andy Flowers, the Saqlain Mushtaqs, the Saeed Anwars, the Aquib Javeds, the Shivanarine Chanderpauls... I don't know why the same Indians, who make Brian Lara and Shane Warne look ordinary, take a bow to these guys. Kaneria seems to be following Afridi up that ladder.
Time to think about the most unpredictable factor of the series, Shoaib Akhtar. He could finally be a telling difference between the 2 sides. If he gets a hammering from Sehwag and co. (Sehwag is the lead), advantage India. If Sehwag doesn't last his 1st session with the new ball, advantage Pakistan. However, if Dravid and Tendulkar cannot blunt out his spell with the old one, it could just be game-set-match Pakistan.
I am a pessimistic writer, ain't I?
Within 6 hours from now, the annual (I don't know if it will continue to be that way) India-Pak summit clash is about to get under way at Lahore and heaps of free time has made me read on every scrap on the reams of (web) pages expended by various pundits in anticipation of the event. That's what I am filled with, anticipation.
On paper, I would say that both teams start neck and neck. Riding on the high of their recent home bashings, there is no shortage of winning habit. For all the might of Inzamam, Afridi (note that he is number 2 on my list), Shoaib, Kaneria and Yousuf whatever, India have gotten Dravid, Kumble, Sehwag, Dhoni and Pathan (excuse me for some notable absentees) in their ranks. And as my cricketing knowledge tells me (unlike that of some, on some pathetic websites, who can write with enormous aplomb about how Yuvraj Singh will beat the hell out of Pakistan one day and the very next day can come up with a masterpiece of immature writing about how Mohammed Asif will win it for Pakistan), it's hard to predict anything about the outcome. One thing seems certain though, whoever wins the 1st test, with due consideration for the 2 coaches who have brought in fighting spirits in their teams, will have to lose the series from there rather than being beaten. Which is exactly why teams have to be at their ruthless best right here tonight (my time).
Having been a follower of the match-fixing era of Sharjah and the post-Javed-Miandad-last-ball-six-time, I still have some apprehensions about India playing Pakistan, especially when the neighbors are close to their best. And hence my list of Indians to watch out for contains those names that I mentioned. Dravid, I think he will experience an Inzamam Ul Huq effect on his batting with the captaincy coming his way, if at all he can bat better. Kumble, the tiniest smell of blood and he will be there running in over after over after over. Probably the best ever to have bowled on subcontinental pitches (his offset away from subcontinent to that in subcontinent makes me weigh in his favor rather than Murali's), he will not be kept out of the match at any stage. The other 3 are young, talented and thankfully never been a part of the apprehension against Pakistan times. They will believe that they are better than their opponents and hence are pivotal to Team India's success.
Talk about subplots for India, and Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman come to the mind. Still formidable mind you, Sachin is past his dominating best, which is not a cause of concern at all. He will score runs, just based on his willpower and reputation, but I believe that gone are the days when he could be termed as the deadliest Indian weapon who, within a couple of sessions, would set up the test match for his side. He is in more of a stock batsman role, the role that Shaun Pollock plays for South African bowling. Laxman, well he is an enigma, and you better not predict about him. But I get the feeling that he will also play the supporting cast.
On the other hand, how dearly would Pakistan love their captain to play the way he has been doing for the last couple of years? I hope that the law of averages in deed catches on him and at least 30% of the battle will be won for India. I also hope that Greg Chappell has devised a strategy for Shahid Afridi and it works out in the middle, for it is this man who can remind the Indians of their butchering days with Ijaz Ahmed and Saeed Anwar. It's this sense of fear that made even a bowler as pathetic as Arshad Khan (only Rameez Raja, the Pakistani counterpart of somebody like Maninder Singh, has the wherewithal to spit into the mic heaps of praise for this gentleman) to eat them away during that shameful 2nd innings of Bangalore test and Afridi is well capable of pushing India into that mode. Danish Kaneria, it's a challenge for him but so far he has done extremely well against the Indians, mostly because he has gotten a reputation against them. I don't know where it sets in, but there are some players (quite a few of them Pakistanis, on another thought quite a few of them southpaws) who just fail to do badly against the Indians. The Haydens, the Andy Flowers, the Saqlain Mushtaqs, the Saeed Anwars, the Aquib Javeds, the Shivanarine Chanderpauls... I don't know why the same Indians, who make Brian Lara and Shane Warne look ordinary, take a bow to these guys. Kaneria seems to be following Afridi up that ladder.
Time to think about the most unpredictable factor of the series, Shoaib Akhtar. He could finally be a telling difference between the 2 sides. If he gets a hammering from Sehwag and co. (Sehwag is the lead), advantage India. If Sehwag doesn't last his 1st session with the new ball, advantage Pakistan. However, if Dravid and Tendulkar cannot blunt out his spell with the old one, it could just be game-set-match Pakistan.
I am a pessimistic writer, ain't I?
posted by w_o @ 3:08 PM
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