Inzamam-ul-Haq bats for The News
The audience with Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, on the eve of the second One-day International in Rawalpindi, has infused a fresh spirit into the team. This meeting at the Aiwan-e-Sadr was really welcome as the President discussed every player’s peculiar role in the game with him. But the highlight of the meeting was the President’s joining us in the Jumma prayers.
President Musharraf has a great affinity for cricket and the cricketers. We have noticed that in our several meetings with him. After the Jumma prayers yesterday, he also joined us in the ‘Dars’ congregation where Islam was discussed in great length.
The players were pleasantly surprised to know how much the President knows and share with him his immense knowledge about our religion. He not only participated in the ‘Dars’ with us, he discussed various aspects of Islam with us in a very knowledgeable manner.
The Pakistan players attend the ‘Dars’ session every day. But we were really stunned by the President’s great knowledge in this regard. He impressed upon us the need to say our prayers regularly. He told us how every good Muslim should be aware of his responsibilities.
He was vey eloquent on the subject of what a good Muslim’s role in society should be. He told us that while taking care of our professional responsibilities, we should also be well aware of the needs of our respective families.
We feel rejuvenated after having met the President. Our intentions to achieve yet another triumph have been rekindled. The President had kind words to say to every member of the Pakistan team and discussed his particular role with him.
He agreed that the side has turned into one of the frontline forces in the cricketing world only because it is united. Just because of this unity, he believed, the Pakistan team has become a potent threat to the other cricketing outfits.
On a lighter note, the President also mentioned my ‘obstructing the field’ dismissal in Peshawar. But I wasn’t able to say anything about it as I am not permitted to because of the International Cricket Council (ICC) code of conduct. The President, however, did ask me as to why I continue to become a victim of such unusual dismissals.
He also discussed with us about some of the unsavoury incidents that happened during the Karachi Test. He felt that the way the team fought back was something that happens rarely in big-time cricket. He specially called Kamran Akmal and gave him a big pat on the back.
In my role as the Pakistan team skipper, I wish that our side attains a five-nil victory in the one-day series. But it’s really premature to predict anything at the moment. There are still four matches to go and we don’t have any false notions about our strength. My first priority is to win the series and, perhaps, then we’ll think about making a 5-0 whitewash. In the rapidly changing scenario of a limited overs match, any team can be put under pressure at any time. Thus, we have to first concentrate on winning the series and later think of anything else. The rubber is still open and either team can emerge triumphant.
There has been much talk about the Indian team’s bowling in this series. Some experts are of the opinion that their bowling is extremely weak and it doesn’t have the capacity to run through its opponents. I have a different opinion in this regard.
Instead of brushing aside the Indian bowling and calling it ‘weak’, I would give the credit to the Pakistan batsmen. Because they are the ones who have been notching up bigger scores than India’s.
I had also played in the 2004 series between the two countries. Even then the Indian bowling boasted of players like Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik, etc. In fact, there has been a lot of cricket between Pakistan and India in the last two years and that’s one reason why the Pakistan batsmen have learnt to cope with the Indian bowlers so proficiently.
That’s exactly why the Pakistan batsmen have not been impressed by the Indian bowlers’ reputations and have continued to make tons of runs in the Tests as well as the one-dayers. I would still stay that the Indians are certainly not weak. It’s the Pakistan batsmen who have been performing exceptionally well. On their day, the Indian bowlers can still demolish any cricketing opponents in the world.
In the second one-dayer in Rawalpindi, Pakistan will be again without fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar. He has been excluded from the side because of a serious injury. He is certainly Pakistan’s main bowler and his absence will be sorely felt.
But this Pakistan team is such that the absence of any players doesn’t make a difference to its strength. I couldn’t play in the Karachi Test and the team still went on to win. Now Shoaib Akhtar is not playing. This will surely make some difference but I’m certain that the team players will not let that bother them with their own superlative display. Shoaib hadn’t played in Peshawar either.
I am very positive about my team’s positive display. Its greatest asset is its unity. That’s why it is hopeful of winning even in the absence of the biggest of names.
The new pace bowlers have been bowling exceptionally well. They have had the world’s topmost batsmen in grave trouble. Mohammad Asif has shocked everyone around the world as soon as he’s come in. The manner in which Yasir Arafat bowled Andrew Flintoff in the Karachi one-dayer against England recently shows that the team is bustling with talent.
The pitch prepared at the Pindi Cricket Stadium is not quite perfect as a batting track. However, it is better than the wicket made for the one-dayers against England. But batting is not going to be easy on this pitch this time round either.
In my opinion, a total of 260 or 270 would be a winning score on this wicket. Looking at the Pakistan team’s spirit, I have great hopes in our winning the Rawalpindi match also. We would thus be able to put considerably more pressure on the Indian side prior to the third one-dayer in Lahore.