Make-Or-Break Series For Skippers

I look at this series as a make-or-break one for the two captains. 

Inzamam ul-Haq is not a dynamic captain. He is a routine leader who makes changes by rota. It is Moin Khan behind thestumps who has the brains and actually effects changes. Inzamam also is in very poor form, he has scored only 100 runs orthereabout in his last five innings. He just cannot afford a slip-up.

Similar pressure is on Saurav Ganguly. He has scored only eight runs in his last four innings. If he does not do well inPakistan, he could lose his captaincy. This series is being held after 15 years -- both captains can't afford a flop show.

Captains come under pressure when they are failing and men around them are performing well. So is the case withInzamam and Ganguly. I hope they don't make the mistake most captains do under pressure -- ask the rest of the guys to stepup their performance.

You can't ask a cricketer to go beyond his limitations. If you ask somebody like Anil Kumble to hang around at least for two hours and score 20 runs, you are putting pressure on others.

When on song though, both are world class batsmen. Ganguly will be helped by the lack of bounce on our pitches.Inzamam, if he gets past the first 10-15 minutes, will be difficult to stop. In the initial moments, he is not sure ofhis movements.

Steve Waugh always used to have a short cover for him for those spooned drives. His running between thewickets is diabolical but once he is set he does not rely on it, he hits fours and sixes only.

In my view, Yousuf Yohana is our best batsman. He uses soft hands, has great technique for a number three batsman andquickly shifts gears. He could be defending one moment and clouting fours and sixes the next. He also has tremendouspower. He has matured and understands batting better.

One of the finds for us has been opener Yaseer Hamid. He is close to 1000 runs in 26 games which is as good as ZaheerAbbas or Basit Ali. But he doesn't have stamina. He tends to throw his wicket when well set. 

Imran Farhaat is a great talent but I don't think he would get a chance. I think Shahid Afridi will be the otheropener. Afridi is a craze in Pakistan because he hits fours and sixes. He also takes a heavy toll of new ball bowlers, ashe used to do against Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad.

Afridi could be severe on Irfan Pathan because from what I have seen Irfan tends to bowl an outside the off-stump line.

Afridi loves to cut as do the other top Pakistan batsmen. That's why Irfan can't control wides but you can't blame him becauseeven the great Wasim Akram used to struggle in this area. It could be a general problem with the left-arm fast bowlers.

Younis Khan is another of our top players. He is a very positive batsman. His running between the wicket isastounding. Along with Shoaib Malik, a good all-rounder, he can rattle the opposition.

A lot of players in Pakistan are all-rounders. This is a positive on sub-continental wickets. In places like Australia,you need more specialists but not on our pitches. The Indians too have a lot of boys who could turn their arms over, men likeVirender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Hemang Badani and YuvrajSingh.

I think Pakistan's bowling attack will be in the hands of the three S -- Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami and Shabbir Ahmed. Thesupport cast could be Afridi, Malik and Abdur Razzaq.

The wicket in Karachi is a batting wicket but the moisture in the morning could helpthe fast bowlers. I have alsonoticed it helps spin later in the day. So, a side chasing a total could be infor problems. It is importantfor bowlers to keep things tight in the morning otherwise thegame might just run away from them. 

Even though the Indians start as favourites for the one-day series because of their batting depth, I have afeeling Pakistan will win the first game. If that happens, Pakistan would acquire a momentum which would be difficult tostop.

PTI