Stemming the fall

Written by HW SquadStats

Wednesday, 21 November 2007

The last Test series played between India and Pakistan tottered on the edge of being classified as a damp squib, with the first two tests turning out to be dull draws on flat, platform wickets, and only a dramatic first over hat-trick and a fightback hundred from Pathan and Akmal respectively bringing some excitement. Indications, however, are that this series is going to be quite different.

Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore have never been dead, batting wickets, to begin with. Very few of the batsmen on either side (especially amongst the Pakistanis) have the patience and temperament to actually play out five days of cricket and get in only one innings each. The consequences and aftermath of defeat to the arch enemy is no longer as severe as it was until a decade or so ago. While nothing can be ruled out a stalemate, on most counts, looks unlikely, which means that the two teams will have no place to run or hide.

Unlike in the buildup to the ODI's, the series does not start on an even keel, and the Indians will spend this evening knowing that they are expected to win, and anything less than that will count as a loss. The Indian batting order looks stable compared to the Pakistanis the same way a heavy downpour looks manageable after a tornado. While consistency has never been India's trump card, they still have more eggs in their basket with Sachin, Saurav, Dravid, Laxman, Dhoni forming a batting lineup that cannot accomadate Yuvraj Singh, as against the Pakistanis who will have to rely on Yousuf, Younis and anyone else who happens to get up on the right side of the bed on that particular day.

R.P.Singh and Sreesanth are out with injuries, but the advantage of having a pack of on-off performers as against one or two dependable bowlers is that there is always a chance for such an event to turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Munaf Patel takes the place of the two injured bowlers, and it is only a series on injuries resulting in some untested talent that stands between a safe judgement that Munaf can be as effective as either of the two other bowlers.

At any rate, Delhi has always been a hunting ground for spinners first, and it is likely that Harbhajan will also play alongside Kumble. It is here that Pakistan might take an unexpected lead. It was the spinners that did the bulk of the damage in their Tests against South Africa, and Danish Kaneria is as capable of running through a side as Kumble is, given the right conditions.

The efforts of the spinners, however, were not enough to give Pakistan a win against South Africa, who aren't the best players of spin in the world, and are in fact closer to the other end of the spectrum. So how effective they will be against the Indians, who, for all their unpredictability, are better than South Africa at handling spinners, remains one of the many questions that can only be answered by their mercurial nature.

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