Low-key Inzamam says pressure mounting for Indians
‘If India consider themselves favourites for series it is good for
Pakistan because the favourite team has a lot to live up to’
By Waheed Khan
KARACHI: The Indian captain and coach may have their own perspective on the ‘mind games’ that would be effective against Pakistan in the coming series which explains the strong and aggressive statements coming from Sourav Ganguly and John Wright in the last couple of days on India being favourites and how confident they are of creating history by winning the Test series and not being afraid of Shoaib Akhtar.
In contrast Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and coach Javed Miandad appear to have done their own homework on what sort of psychological strategy is required against the Indians.
And it appears they have come to the conclusion to remain low key and promote themselves as second best compared to India in the series. :k:
Whose strategy works only time will tell but while Ganguly has been shooting off with statements like “we are favourites for the series and we want to make a clean sweep of the one-day series” and “Pakistan is under pressure and let us see how well they handle the pressure” and so on, Inzamam has been composed and choosy with his words.
On Tuesday after a long workout in the nets in the hot and humid weather, the big man brushed aside Ganguly’s statement. “If India consider themselves as favourites for the series, it is good for Pakistan because the favourite team has a lot to live up to and I think in this series, which is a pressure one, India would also be under pressure to deliver.”
“I would not like to rate Pakistan as favourites but I am quietly confident of our ability to do well against them. Our team might have a few young players but if you look at our overall performance in the last one year we have reason to be confident about our chances. It does not matter to us if we are not rated as favourites. As it is we do feel the pressure such a series but we will get over it.”
The Pakistan skipper promised his side would play positive cricket throughout the series. “I think once we go on the field on Saturday our nerves will steady down and than it would just be about beating them in cricket.”
Javed Miandad insisted that the series would not be about Shoaib Akhtar versus Sachin Tendulkar or Muhammad Sami versus Rahul Dravid. “It would be Pakistan versus India and whoever plays like a until will be successful.”
However, both the captain and coach had a different theme to talk on: the impact the series will have on relations between the two countries.
“This series is more than just cricket. It is about building bridges between Pakistan and India and promoting peace,” Miandad said. “I would appeal to everyone in Pakistan to please make combined efforts to ensure the series is held in a peaceful manner without any mishaps,” he said.
The Indians arrive in Lahore on Wednesday on a 35-day tour to play five One-day Internationals and three Tests. This is the first occasion since 1989 that they would be playing Tests in Pakistan.
Cricket followers in Pakistan have been eagerly looking forward to this ice-breaking series and tickets for the first one-dayer in Karachi on Monday sold out within a few hours of being put on sale.
Inzamam pointed out that even his team realized the importance of the series. “One team has to lose and one has to win. We will surely play hard cricket in the series against a good team. But more than cricket this series can help remove lot of misunderstandings between the people of the two countries,” he added.
“Pakistan and India have a history of tense relations. I think the teams can do a lot to clear the air. But for this the people have to support us and show everyone that we are a peaceful nation,” Inzamam said.
Asked about his thoughts on which position Shahid Afridi would occupy in the team and on the pitches, he said that if Afridi played it would be as an opener. :nook:
“As far as the pitches are concerned I think we had very good and result-oriented pitches against South Africa and we are looking for the same sort of pitches against India,” he said.
Miandad said being from Karachi he could understand the eagerness of the people to watch the match and the problems over the tickets. “But I think the people have to realize that there are only a limited number of seats available. Maybe it is time the Board thought about building a bigger venue in Karachi to meet high demands for such matches.”
