With one of the most exciting test cricket series round the corner, what do you think will be the outcome of the series?
The poll is for the test series only. One on ODI’s will be conducted later on.
Pakistan will win the test series, Pakistani batting is not weak but is unexperienced, (but they are still playing on familair conditions, the good opening stands in last couple of series are really moral boosting for Pak)indian bowling is not only unexperienced but also weak. This to me is the decissive difference of the series.
Its difficult to say who will win the series. No doubt, it will be an excellent series. Indian batting vs. Pakistani bowling. :k:
Best of luck to Pakistan!
I m quite unsure seriuosly, Anything can happen in such matches. So i cant predict because ppl rise to the occassions and there were aplenty in the past so cant write any team off.
If the Indian stars can control their fear of being shot, bombed, kidnapped, beheaded, dismembered, they can draw a test. The rest I don’t know. 
You mena they will be bothered by such trivial things. Some people. 
Still they will only draw, great…
I think Pakistan won the series 2-1 in 1998 I guess, Pakistan were under more pressure coz of the hostile Indian Crowd, who cannot see there GODS, getting bowled first ball, and those gretest Shiv Sinyaay , who digged the pitch o some ground..
Critical question remains can the young and fragile Pakistani bowling get the Indian batting line-up twice out in 5 days. My personal view is that Pak's bowling is essentially a one-man army and that one-man, is the only one who can bowl consistently (as long as he keeps fit). The rest are unreliable and underlings. Agar chal giyay tau chal giyay, nahi tau thussss!
Still I refuse to give up hope (blind patriotism, may be:) )
We will win... Insha Allah.
it will be a battle of nerves and only men who can brave them would emerge as winners - Pakistan playing at home would certainly have a distinct advantage plus the fact that India are touring Pakistan after a long , arduous and demoralising ODI series of Australia.
Pakistan tour has always seen some heads roll - in 78/79 i think it was Bedi - in 82 it was Gavaskar who lost the captaincy and Vishwanath lost his place( that was Imran Khan's series ) and in 89-90 it was Kris Srikkanth
Lets see what happens this time.... I only hope there are not any crowd troubles and any untoward incidents...
You Indians are good at excuses since thats all you’ve had to do each time you visited Pakistan in the last fifty years.
aisa kya?
Ehsan bhai I change my opinion. We will win. The players are sounding more positive now, and once they get over the shock of going to Pakistan (which they will by next week) they’re gonna use all that batting practice they had in Aus and cream ya. 
I think if Sami and the supporting cast can put in some decent performances, Pakistan will compete well. If Akhtar is the only potent bowler, India will bat us out of the match.
I just hope that the bowlers don't depend too much on Akhtar.
Oh no!!! Bring back Wasim, Waqar and Imran. 
Karina if the series produces some really good contest than it won’t matter who wins (so long as it is Pakistan :D).
Lets hope for a good and well fought series.
***********************DRAW(0-0)**************
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ehsan: *
Lets hope for a good and well fought series.
[/QUOTE]
What series. This is war. It's even titled LOC (Loser is owl and child. translate that into urdu.:))
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by karina: *
What series. This is war. It's even titled LOC (Loser is owl and child. translate that into urdu.:))
[/QUOTE]
I think you meant owl's child and if I translate it into urdu then i will have to edit it. :)
How do you know that? 
Anyway, here’s Zaheer Abbas’ weekly article:
[thumb=E]fm15-1611279_7791046.JPG[/thumb]
The expression says it all.
India has lost the momentum
By Zaheer Abbas
The thumping manner and margin of victory that Australia managed in the best-of-three final of the recently concluded triangular series is a clear indication that the India simply ran out of gas at the fag end of the tour. It also suggests that the Australians have an amazing capacity to lift their game when it matters.
When they were down in the Test series, they came from behind and managed the equalizer. When they were pushed on to the back foot in the last Test, they played out of their skin to managed a draw. At the start of the One Day part of the season, the beginning was not that auspicious by Australian standards. There were hopes of close encounters in the three-match final, but such hopes had an early and unsung death. The margins said it all: by seven wickets in the first match, and 208 runs in the second. Of course, there was no need to go for the third as the issue was already settled by then.
It was so depressing that Sunil Gavaskar called the Indian side to be the “biggest chokers” of world cricket. Though the words might have been a little harsh, there is no doubt that Gavaskar was not too far from what it really is like.
The damp note on which the tour came to an end for the Indians means much of the good work that they had done during the summer is now lost. The momentum of the side has been broken and they would be leaving Australia with drooping shoulders. While the management and the captain would do everything to talk about the positives - and there were many, mind you - and cheer everyone up, the activity will itself mean that the boys are in need of a pep talk. It is only after they perform once again on the field that this feeling of being down and out would go away.
How bad things can be was demonstrated by the captain himself. Sourav Ganguly and his side had no complaints all through the summer. They said nothing about the media or the players or about the scheduling of the matches or even about the playing surfaces. It was because the team was performing beyond its own potential and things seem to be falling in place and minor incidents were ignored because the general mood in the camp was on a high.
However, things changed once the team lost the first final by seven wickets and the second final was all but over even before the Indians had started their innings to chase 360. All of a sudden, Ganguly had problems with sledging and found it bad enough to report the matter to his Australian counterpart. This was simply a result of frustration on the part of the Indian captain.
It is unimaginable that there would have been no prior incident of sledging during the summer. It is, after all, part of the Australian way of going about their cricket. It is just that it didn’t sound all that bad to the Indian ears. It sounded bad when the results stopped coming their way. This happens when a side is down on confidence and morale, and the Indian side was no exception.
From Pakistan’s point of view, with the series against India just round the corner, the situation could not have been better. Man-to-man, India still seems to have advantage over us as far as paper strength of the side is concerned. A creditable performance in the finals would have surely sustained the momentum India had gained through the summer. But now, it will have to start afresh though it will need no better incentive to do that than to have Pakistan as the opponent.
and don’t forget the fear of being showered by ganday tamater and aanday.
It should be a really great series. I would suspect that it will liklely be a 0-0 draw. But man would I love to see us win. Someone was asking if our bowling can get India out twice... who knows. But the bigger mismatch maybe the Indian bowling against our batting. If Agarkar, Kumble, Singh and maybe even Khan are injured it could be a really long series for the Indian bowlers, that said I agree that our bowling could be a bit overrate right now. Sami is fast but has tons to prove and Saqi needs to make a comeback big time in this series, personally I would bring back Waqar ..... and whatever happens, please Indians, no excuses about fears of bombings. I am sure we all know the greatest fear is losing when you are dealing with south Asian cricket fans.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by elahi: *
Someone was asking if our bowling can get India out twice... who knows.
[/QUOTE]
Those days are gone..We don' t have the serivces of wasim, waqar or inform saqlain.
Shoaib Akhtar is the only bowler who is threatening. Sami is supposetly struggling, is he? I saw him bowl in NZ. He was fast, his line or length was okay but he was just a flat bowler.He didnt really swing the ball effectively and NZ batsmen played him with great ease.
I have said it thousand times and I'm gonna say it again Saqlain is no longer effective. I hope he proves me wrong this time.
Razzaq isnt a bowler anymore. Even Tailenders can settle in his bowling.
Umer and shabbir aren't life savers either. Flat and playable.
Elahi you mentioned about the left arm seamers and I think its a good idea. Facing a left arm bowlers always gives a batmen something to think about.
Our brittle or shaky batting and inconsistent weak bowling lineup,I hope we hung in there..
India winning their first ever away series :( ---> My worst fear
I still don't see why we are giving Pakistan a huge edge in bowling department.