India Deserving Winners

India were the deserving winners the way they turnedthe tide in the final two games at Lahore after trailing 1-2 in the series.They played tough, uncompromising cricket and squeezed Pakistan out of thecontest.

One man of whom I have been critical about chose thegrand stage to underline his importance and V.V.S. Laxman did so most stylishly.He showed that in his fragile frame lies a tough mind. He played a highlypleasing innings and his wristy strokes were a delight.

Laxman has always been known for his timing and some ofhis wristy strokes indeed can take your breath away. His stylish century pushedIndia to its eventual score of 293 which proved far too much for Pakistan underlights. His innings was the kind of knock which I enjoyed thoroughly for it wasa celebration of senses. Batting elevates itself to an art form when thiselegant batsman is at the crease.

I thought Pakistan had done well enough when they asked India to take firststrike and proceeded to produce a highly disciplined effort. There was noprofusion of no-balls and wides as had been the case in previous games. Thebowlers, it appeared, had learnt their lessons and realised the difference ofextras was the critical factor in the results. They were thus not waywardyesterday and it immediately made an impact on the Pakistan innings.

Shoaib Akhtar led the way with an impressive openingspell and largely contained a powerful Indian line-up. The rock solid RahulDravid and his prototype Mohammad Kaif were not allowed to get going.

Pakistan should not be faulting its bowlers though Imust admit there were far too many runs in the final three overs which pushedIndia towards the 300-run mark.

In just a matter of two weeks, I have become a greatadmirer of Irfan Pathan. The youngster has attitude and oodles of confidencewhich is surprising for a cricketer as young as Irfan. It was his spell whichbroke the back of the Pakistan innings. It was an eminently chaseable totalunder lights but Irfan inflicted so enormous a damage that Pakistan neverrecovered despite the heroics of Moin Khan and Shoaib Malik.

I also cannot overlook L. Balaji who has proved anideal foil to Pathan as a new-ball partner. The delivery off which he dismissedYasir Hameed was the best ball of the match. It pitched at the right spot andjagged back sharply to knock the off-stump out of the ground. Yasir was alsoguilty of appearing casual and late on his stroke.

Still you cannot take it away from Moin and Malik for fighting so valiantly andkeeping Pakistan in the hunt till the end. They took a heavy toll of India'snon-existent fifth bowler and going by the nature of matches in the series,there were many in the stands who were expecting a close finish.

They almost produced it but credit to India for keepingtheir cool. It was reflected in the cool catch which Balaji took off Malik atdeep mid-wicket or when Yuvraj Singh threw down the non-striker's stumps tocatch Shoaib short of his ground.

India were the deserving winners of the one-day seriesbecause they had better discipline than their hosts. One-day cricket is allabout sticking to the basics and attending to those little details which make ahuge difference in the end.

Pakistan relied on their bowlers to come good butindeed it was their batsmen who produced a better effort than was imagined.Pakistan gave away too many extras in the first four matches and it had acritical bearing on the final outcome of the series.

The tour is far from over and Pakistan have enough timeto make amends in the Test series which begins with the first game in Multan onSunday. Their bowlers should reflect where they went wrong and it is criticallyimportant they find an answer to their no-ball problems. They have ahigh-voltage pace attack and extra balls mean extra strain on the fast bowlers'resources who actually should be fighting to retain every ounce of their energy.

The way it was in the one-day series, I feel the Testmatch clashes should be equally engrossing.

PTI