'Reverse Swing Might Not Affect India'

There is a worry in the Pakistan camp that the Indiansmight not be susceptible against reverse swing. The way they played in Australiait was apparent they knew what the ball would do. It might still be a mysteryfor teams like England and South Africa. But that doesn't seem the case with theIndians.

We in Pakistan are very good in "caring" forthe ball. We make sure that at least one side of the ball retains its shine.After 30-40 overs, the dry conditions of our sub-continent help the ball toreverse swing. When Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis operated, we tried our best toensure the ball didn't get wet or too much of sweat was not applied on it.

I remember the Old Trafford Test of 2001 when sweat onthe hands of Saqlain Mushtaq didn't allow the ball to dry up enough. Saqlainusually sweats a lot. In order to counter it, and to make sure our fast bowlersgot their way, he used to apply cream to keep his hands dry.These days I am speaking a lot to Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami, whoincidentally is from my academy, about the plans they should hatch against theIndian batsmen. Most of the Indian batsmen are great but everyone has faults. Asa coach, you must look at the current fault of batsmen. Sachin Tendulkar forinstance does not have a long stride forward and any delivery which comes inquickly from a good length spot, he tends to inside edge on to his stumps.

Tendulkar, of course, is a genius and I would neverforget his double century in Sydney. He clearly was struggling with his form. Hehad been dismissed a few times driving on the off-side. He cleverly took thecentre rather than the off-stump guard. It allowed him to walk on to hisoff-stump and any delivery pitched on the middle and leg were worked on the on-sidebeautifully.

He did the same against us during the World Cup. I hadgot injured and was not there when the Indians batted, but if I was there, Iwould have never let Shoaib Akhtar take the new ball. I used to help Waqar withmy inputs. It should have been Waqar with the new ball. Shoaib should havebowled with the old ball. Tendulkar settled that match in the first 10 oversitself.

Now of course it would be Shoaib to start ouroperations. He is the fastest bowler in the world and he now also has goodfocus. He is bowling as well with the new ball as he did during the 1999 WorldCup. I have been telling him to avoid verbal intimidation and rather let hisdeeds do the talking.

Let's admit Shoaib is the glamour boy of international cricket. He knows when heis on the field, everyone expects him to strike all the time. He actually enjoysthe attention and is known to take four or five wickets -- if the rhythm isright -- in a matter of a dozen balls.

Mohammad Sami is not as quick as Shoaib but in terms ofconsistent speed, he perhaps is the best in Pakistan. He regularly bowls inexcess of 145 kmph. He is very quick off the pitch. England captain MichaelVaughan acknowledges him to be the fastest off the pitch. New Zealand batsmenhad no clue to his pace. He can also indulge in verbal intimidation.

A lot of young bowlers do it as we saw Irfan Pathan andBrad Williams indulge in it in Australia. Shoaib does not do much talking but hehas his own mannerisms and style.

Shabbir Ahmed restricts his menace to his pace alone.He is back from his correctives in Australia and he has pace and bounce which heextracts from his unusual height. The good thing with these three S's is thatall are different and bring their own sets of problems for batsmen. Shoaib, Samiand Shabbir are different but all are hostile and genuinely quick.

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan is a youngster who made his debut under my captaincy inSharjah but was dropped for Sri Lanka, because of which I had a showdown withAamir Sohail, the then chairman of selectors.

He is a very decent prospect, his pace is better thanthat of Abdur Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood and he is a very good exponent of reverseswing. He is also a very good batsman. A very steady cricketer who could be ahelp to the team in more than one area.

All these fast bowlers would be aggressive but thenthey must not sacrifice control. Aggression and accuracy are both important.That's how you build pressure on batsmen. The Indian batsmen are good enough toplunder loose bowling.

Also, let's not presume that all the pressure is on theIndian team. If anything, the members of the Pakistan team would face stifferpressure. You walk on to the field, go out with friends, talk to friends orrelatives, there is this constant pleading for you to do well in the series.When you are touring, you are under less pressure.

PTI