One Of The Greatest ODI Series

Inzamam-ul Haq must be ruing his decision of invitingIndia to bat first after having had the option to choose. In any final, onealways bats first unless the pitch conditions dictate otherwise. It is easy tobe wise after the event but I had this over-riding feeling that Inzamam wasbetter off in electing to bat on a pitch as placid as it was on Wednesday and anoutfield which was lightning quick.

It has been one of the greatest series between the twoarch-rivals in recent past in one-day cricket. What a way of resuming cricketingties and how entertaining this Samsung one-day series has turned out to be!

India started well again with Sachin Tendulkar andVirender Sehwag settling any nerves in the dressing room with their briefinnings. V.V.S. Laxman looked very comfortable from the start and stamped hisclass with a brilliant century. He is a delight to watch when he bats and makesbatting appear so simple and effortless with his timing. He usually makes a goodstart count and it was no different on Wednesday when he completed a classycentury. He is now a batsman sure of his methods, and his ability andconsistency in recent months has been outstanding. After a dream tour ofAustralia, he is making other teams suffer with his remarkable ability.

India managed to reach an identical score to that of Pakistan in the previousmatch. Irfan Pathan in a short career has proved to be a utility cricketer. Hebatted sensibly in the final overs and when given the new ball he did notdisappoint the skipper for showing faith in him.

He swung the ball both ways and his normal pitchinglength was fuller than the other bowlers. L. Balaji provided the ideal start byremoving the in-form Yasir Hameed. India, flexible in their bowling strategy,persevered with Pathan after his usual first six-over spell that got rid ofanother Pakistani batsman Younis Khan. In between he accounted for YousufYouhana, not for the first time in the series, if I may add.

It always helps a spinner when the fast bowlers makeearly inroads and Murali Kartik responded by sending back danger man Inzamam whowas caught brilliantly by Sachin in the deep. It was an outstanding effort andTendulkar made sure he did not trip on the rope or beyond it and his cool nervesremoved the most dangerous batsman of the opposition.

Inzy has been a class act in this series and Pakistanrelied heavily on him to deliver goods. I guess the Indians must have started tobreathe easy after they were able to take out the Pakistan captain from themiddle. It was a critical moment of the match.

Moin Khan alongwith Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Sami did give India a scare butthe asking rate was too high and eventually it turned out to be a perfect finaleto the Samsung Cup with the host nation displaying true spirit with fireworkslighting up the Lahore sky.

This victory will certainly give us the psychologicaladvantage going into the Test series which now will be followed closely withrenewed interest.

For any cricketer touring and performing in all Testplaying nations gives immense pleasure and I am really looking forward to thechallenges that lie ahead in the forthcoming encounters.

I believe the key to our success would yet again dependon the number of runs our batsmen are able to score in the Test series whichwill then give the bowlers the cushion to take 20 wickets of the opposition.

Nowadays with the international schedule being as theyare - there is barely any time to rejoice. One has to start refocusing on thenext match soon.

PTI