India's squad ffir first test match

Probable Squad for the first test match:
Wasim Jaffer
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Suresh Raina or Mohammed Kaif
VVS Laxman
MS Dhoni
Irfan Pathan
Anil Kumble
Harbhajan Singh
Piyush Chawala/VRV Singh/RP Singh/Sreesanth


This may be the probable squad for the first test match and if Indians are likely to
experiment they may sent Irfan Pathan as opener as his good defence against new ball makes him one of the finest batsman against newball and they may include a extrabowler in the lineup as they may try to take the advantage of England’s weakness in batting due to the absence of Vaughan,Trescothick and injury worries to Peitersen.

Irfan Pathan
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Suresh Raina or Mohammed Kaif
VVS Laxman
MS Dhoni
Irfan Pathan
Anil Kumble
Harbhajan Singh
Piyush Chawala
VRV Singh/RP Singh/Sreesanth

India's batting lineup:
Wasim Jaffer who had a good run in Ranji season may work in his favour, but the absence of good match practice may find him struggling against English pace men as he was exposed to Englishmen at the 3 day match.


Indians should have not allowed their both frontline openers in the 3-day match,as they have been thoroughly exposed to England bowlers.

As in case if Wasim Jaffer fails in the first and second tests,and in crucial third test they may have to draft Gautam Gambhir as an opener who is in very good form and his exposure against the English bowling may also act against him as they may have a plan to bowl to his weakness.


Virender Sehwag may have a special liking for English bowling as he opened for first time against England only and may like to repeat his performance against current English team.


As far as middle order is concerned it is one of the strongest batting lineup in the world eeven in the absence of players like Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh as the other three namely Sachin, Dravid and Laxman have a huge amount of experience behind them.


In addition to it the presence of Dhoni in the middle order makes India batting so strong as his ability to play wide range of shots and his additional ability to destroy any bowling attack makes him a very valuable player in the middle order.


Pathan may be also a surprise package in the batting lineup,as his ability to hit good shots combined with good defence makes him a good all rounder to the side
.
The presence of Suresh Raina in the side may put a extra bit of pressure on Mohammed Kaif who has been out of form in recent times.

The presence of many left handers may nullify the advantage that India gained in recent past in England’s favour as only Suresh Raina and Irfan Pathan are the only left handers in the squad.

India's bowling attack:
India would like to take the advantage of England’s injury worries and may test the English batsman with a three pronged spin attack who are very susceptible against spinners.They may include young leg spinner Piyush Chawala in their playing eleven in addition to Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

Though India’s pace attack is very weak when compared to England as Indians have only Irfan Pathan in their lineup,the presence of other bowlers like R.P.Singh, Sreesanth and VRVSingh makes India a very good bowling attack.

Whether India would go with a two-pronged pace attack or three pronged pace attack may mainly depend upon the nature of the pitch as Last test match played here India lost by huge margin as a Green top wicket was prepared mainly against the wishes of Indian team

Pathan:
Irfan Pathan once again proved his credentials as an a good swing bowler with some good match winning performances in Pakistan. In the first two test matches Irfan Pathan did not get too many wickets as bowlers had to do a lot of hard work to get wickets on those flat unresponsive pitches at Lahore and Faislabad.

But he made amends for it ,by using the seaming conditions at Karachi test on first day to get his first hatrick of his career and he finished with afive wicket haul on the end of the first innings.

It was an average series for him as he claimed 9 wickets giving away more than 400 runs at an average of 44.44 which his too much for a bowler like him.
Wickets Runs Average
9 402 44.44



But it was an good one day series for him as he claimed 9 wickets at an average of just 18.88 giving away only 170 runs.


Wickets Runs Average
9 188 18.88



As a Batsman:
He did perform well in test matches and scored some good knocks at crucial stages in Faisalabad and Karachi test matches.|He scored a weel made 92 in first innings at faisalabad and followed it up with a 38 in first innings at Karachi and he threw away his wicket at a crucial stage in the first innings when India were just short of 7 runs of Pakistan’s total that virually ended India’s chance of coming back into the test match.


In one dayers he scored a good half century ,where he made 63 of 63 balls and in third onedayer he got a beautiful delivery from Asif only to be caught behind the stumps.

But he once again proved himself as an promising all rounder by his performances in this series to compare himself with legendary Kapil Dev .

Sachin:
Sachin had a very poor test series as he scored only 63 runs in the three innings ,he played in the test matches which saw his carrer average dropping by more than a half basis points. He failed at times when he was needed the most. The primary reason why India lost the test series is that Sachin failed to convert his good starts into some big knocks as he averaged a poor 21 in test matches.


But he once again prove that he is a great player by scoring a century and a fifty in the four one day matches he played against Pakistan. He scored 237 runs at an average of 59.25 from four matches.

He also helped a great deal to Indian team by bowling his seamers and not giving too
Many runs helped Rahul Dravid to use him as a fifth bowling option regularly.Sachin also claimed Inzamam twice in this series at crucial stages.

Though he did not pay the test series well ,he once again proved his utility in onedayers.

Rahul Dravid:
Rahul Dravid had a good test series as scored more than 241 runs from the four innings he played.He played superbly in first two test matches but miserably failed in the third crucial test match in his position as an opener .

This once again proves that India mainly depended on Dravid so many times,as Dravid fails in a test match,it is sure that India is bound too losethetestmatch.


In oneday matches he did not fare too well as he scored only two fifties in the five onedayers, but once again these onedayers expose his inability to convert his good starts into big knocks.

But he showed his way to his team mates how to play in crunch situations as he scored some painstaking knocks at critical stages of Indian innings at Lahore,Karachi and Rawalpindi.

Yuvraj Singh:
Surely he is the only Indian player in this series to have fared well in both test and oneday series.

In test series he scored 171 runs in 3 innings he played ,which included a superb century in losing cause in the third test match at Karachi.


In oneday series he was the only batsman who was better than any other player in
Both the teams when it comes to batting.As he took his batting to a new level by his solid knocks at Lahore,Karachi and Rawalpindi.

He scored 344 runs from the five matches at an astonishing average of 172 as he remained notout on more than two occasions


He along with Dhoni made good partnerships at useful stages to see India through and in this process he displayed a new level of maturity as he allowed Dhoni to take the risks and providing him with good solid support at the other end.

I hope that in future ,he would maintain his form to attain great levels in oneday cricket.

Sehwag:
Sehwag had a very poor series in Pakistan when compared to the last time he visited here,when he scored a mammoth 309 at Multan 2004.

He continued this with a good 254 in the first test match at Lahore where conditions were not more in favour of batsman as he along with Dravid made a huge world record stand of 410 runs for first wicket,only three short of previous record.

After that the scored a quick fire 32 in second test match at Faisalabad,but failes miserably in the third test match by a very huge margin.

Had Sehwag had batted for more than an hour in the test match the result would have been entirely different.

In onedayers,after getting out cheaply in the first onedayer,he came back to form with a good well made 67 in the second match,as he strained his left shoulder while hitting a huge six of Rana Naved’s bowling over the point region.

Ganguly:
Though the man who has been labeled as India’s most successful Captain did not even get a chance to bat in the first two matches,he did not even prove himself as he failed to convert some good starts in the third test match into some very good scores,when such big kocks was needed for him.

Surely he is the man to blamed for India losing this test series as his one rash shot in the first innings virtually ended his chance of making a good comeback to the test match after being dropped for third test match at Ahemedabad.

In the first innings of third test match when India were cruising nicely at onestage after being 56/4 for one stage ,he played a rank bad pull short to allow Pakistan to make a come back in the test match .

Again in second innings he was out LBW to Razzaq first ball after tea after doing his hard work in collecting the runs.After seeing this two irresponsible disimmals,I surely feel that it his the time for him to quit gracefully from international arena

MSDHONI

Surely,Dhoni is a player to watch in both teams as he scored his maiden century at crucial stage in Faisalabad to save India from blushes as he and Patah combined well to take India near the Pakistan’s total of 589 in first innings.

When Pakistani paceman tested him with their short stuff,he responded well and showed a great courage to play pull and hook them when even most of the world class players were afraid to play their hook and pull shorts.

In one dayers ,he once again proved his utility as an very good oneday cricketer by scoring 65 in the first match itself,then followed it up with two match winning performances at Lahore and Karachi in the company of Yuvraj Singh.

He absolutely showed no signs of nervousness when asking rate was still over 8 runsper over speaks of him. He gathered his 219 runs from 4 innings at an great average of 219 which included even two not outs speaks of a young player maturing to understand the nuisances of the game.

India's other batsman

Suresh Raina:
Suresh Raina put on a superb batting display when he was sent ahead of Dhoni as he essayed some neat off drives and some glorious drives in the cover region much to the disappointment of the Pakistani fans who had gathered to see their team win at Multan to level the series.
I was delighted by the way he gathered his runs as he made 35 runs from 34 balls without taking any risks makes him a valuable batsman lower down the order in addition to his abilities as good fielder and a part time bowler with his offspin.


Kaif did not do justice to his talents as he had a below the par series just scoring below 20 runs from the three innings he played does no6t speak about his ability.


VVS Laxman also did not had a very good time in Pakistan as just one fifty came from his blade and failing miserably in the two innings in third test match.

India's bowling

R.P.Singh:
He had a good one day series as he claimed eight wickets in the four matches he played as he gave less than 100 runs to get those eight wickets.He was very impressive with his line and length as he hardly gave more than 6 runs per over.He was mainly responsible for India winning this oneday series as he provided some important break through at crucial stages.

Sreesanth:
I was very impressed by the way Sreesanth bowls as he had very good approach to his bowling,though he gave away too many runs in the first onedayer
He came back very well in the rest of the series.And his ability to control the swing of newball makes him a very dangerous bowler in the seaming conditions.I hopr that he would gain a lot experience in the coming days to become a good bowler in future.

Kumble and Harbhajan:
The spin duo was not very effective as in Indian pitches as they were made to bowl on flat unresponsive pitches which did not have any thing for the spinners and were also treated by some wonderful batting display from the Pakistani batsman.

India's batting in 5th odi

Indians began the chase on a good note as Gambhir and Rahul Dravid were involved in a first wicket partnership of 65 runs, Gambhir was the first to go as he flashed across a wide delivery from Rao to be only caught by Kamran Akmal behind the stumps.

Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid who came in as next were subjected to some tight bowling from Rao and Yasir who bowled very well in their first spell. Dravid was more uncomfortable as he played too many dot balls. While at the other end Yuvraj Singh was striking the ball fluently as he was the man in form.

Rahul and Yuvraj did not take too many risks as they rotated the strike very well .When Dravid got out for awell made 50 runs of 82 balls,India was in deep trouble as they required more than 150 runs with only 8 wickets in hand at rate of more than 8.5 runs per over.

And at the end of the 40th over ,the equation was more in the favour of Pakistan,as Indians needed more than 80 runs to win this match,the only advantage for India being the remaining 8 wickets. India was also more bothered by hamstring injury to Yuvraj Singh which forced him to run with a runner.

And he showed great guts by refusing to budge to the injury as he reached his 6th oneday hundred of just 89 balls and Dhoni also reached his half century after beginning on a sedate note and he really took of from there as clobbered 4 sixes in the remaining overs to help India to win this match by 8 wickets.

Dhoni also provided some firworks in the end as he remained unbeaten on 77 from just 49 balls.

Pakistan's batting in 5th ODI

Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to bowl first and Pakistan had a huge chance of winning this game as Indians rested Irfan Pathan and Sachin for this match.

Pakistan got off to a very good start as both the openers Imran Farhat and Akmal put in a partnership of 65 runs for the first wicket and Farhat was once again guilty of throwing his wicket as he once again got out to rank bad pull shot.


Akmal was the next one to go as he hooked a bad delivery straight into the hands of R.P.Singh at fine legof Sreesanth’s bowling .As Sreesanth claimed the first two wickets to fall of the Pakistan innings. Shoiab Malik was the next one to fall as he was caught at gully by Suresh Raina of Sreesanth’s bowling.


Inzamam and Yousuf combined well to take Paksitan beyond the 100 run mark. Inzamam was particularly severe ,as he hit a six of Ramesh Powar in his very first over, but the bowler came back strongly as Inzamam was out LBW very next ball.

Younis Khan who came in as next batted very beautifully as he rotated the strike very well with occasional boundary coming in. Yousuf and Younis was involved in a very good partnertship as they took the score beyond 200,with Yousuf falling for well made 65 of Agit Agarkar’s bowling.


Razzaq who came in as next did not last too long as he made a quick fire 24 of just 15 balls,after Razzaq’sdeparture it was left to Younis Khan who played very well with the tail enders as he clobbered two sixes In the last over of the innings to take the Pakistan’s score well beyond 280.

Pakistan's batting in 4th odi

India once again won the toss and put Pakistan into bat to make use of the seaming conditions and moisture in the pitch due to the morning start for the fast bowlers.


Pakistani’s began on a sedate note after the loss of Akmal with only 9 runs on the board. Salman Butt and Shoiab Malik was very careful that they should not to lose too many wickets to give the advantage to the India, So they adopted a very cautious approach as only 26 runs came of the first 10 overs.


This very cautious approach turned the tide against them as they lost, Salman Butt to awonderful catch taken by Rahul Dravid in slips and then Malik also did not last too long as his dismissal was very wellexecuted by R.P Singh as he got out to a short pitched delivery and to a beautiful catch held by Irfan Pathan running from the square leg.


Younis Khan who came at the fall of Malik was trapped in front of the wicket by R.P.Singh the very next delivery and it was left to Yousuf and Inzamam to salvage the innings after at one stage the Pakistan were
reeling at 38/4.

Inzamam and Yousuf did the rescue act very well as Inzamam regained his touch in his home ground. Inzamam was in fine form as he executed some elegant drives both on and offside. Yousuf once again failed to make a big impression after doing the initial hardwork as he edged a Agarkar delivery to Dhoni who caught it on second attempt.


Imran Farhat who came in as supersub did not last long as he got out to a poor pull shot ,as R.P.Singh claimed his third wicket and then he bowled a superb delivery to get rid of Razzaq as he once again claimed four wickets in an one day international for second time.


At the other end Sachin bowled a good line and length and got the praise reward of Inzamam’s wicket who got across to a delivery which pitched up and straightened towards the stumps .


After the loss of Inzamam ,tail enders did their job better to get the Pakistan’s total beyond the 150 mark.Finally the Pakistan’s innings folded at 161.With Irfan Pathan once again claiming three wickets,R.P Singh claiming four wickets.

India's batting in 4th odi

Indian chase got of too a bad start as they lost Sachin Tendulkar, but Indians were in no spot of bother as Gambhir scored a quick fire 21 , then Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh were involved in a 80 run partnership with Dravid scoring an yet another 50 and Yuvraj made a strokeful 37.

Kaif was once again out for nought as he cut a wide ball, only to be caught at slips by Inzamam.In the end crowds were treated to some wonderful strokes by Suresh Raina who was very impressive in his knock of 35.As India won the fourth oneday international with 5 wickets to spare.

Indian chase got of too a bad start as they lost Sachin Tendulkar, but Indians were in no spot of bother as Gambhir scored a quick fire 21 , then Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh were involved in a 80 run partnership with Dravid scoring an yet another 50 and Yuvraj made a strokeful 37.

Kaif was once again out for nought as he cut a wide ball, only to be caught at slips by Inzamam.In the end crowds were treated to some wonderful strokes by Suresh Raina who was very impressive in his knock of 35.As India won the fourth oneday international with 5 wickets to spare.

India's chase in third ODI

India run chase began on bad note as they lost Gambhir and Pathan due to some good bowling from Mohammed Asif in the company of Umar Gul as both the youngsters bowled beautifully.

Sachin and Dravid did a rescue act to see of the new ball and just when looked to acclerate the scoring rate ,Dravid was run out by direct throw from Umar Gul.

Yuvraj Singh who came in as next combined well with Sachin to punish Pakistani bowlers who erred in line and length and just when it seemed that Sachin and Yuvraj would take India to victory ,Asif sriked again as he Sachin got out at point.

Kaif soon followed Sachin as he got a rough decision from the umpire.Dhoni who came in next was not at his usual best in the beginning of the innings as he began on a sedate note.

Then he unleashed a array of strokes much to the amusment of the Pakistani Captain Inzamam who did not have a good bowler in his armory to bowl to Dhoni.

Rana-Naved-ul-Hasan was severely punished as he gave away more than 72 runs in his 8 overs. Yuvraj Singh who had just completed his half century when Dhoni arrived displayed more maturity as he gave away the strike to Dhoni to paly his shots.

Yuvraj once again played a part in India’s victory as he finished with unbeaten on 79 from just 87 balls and it was Dhoni who stoled the limelight from Yuraj Singh as he scored a quck fire 72 froim just 46 balls with 13 boundaries.

PAK 3 ODI

Rahul Dravid got lucky with coin as he won the toss and elected to field first on good pitch which provided some early movement for seamers.

Salman Butt was once again out to Pathan in second time in the row as he drew the first bool in this match.Afridi who was pushed up the order did not last too long as he was caught brilliantly by Kaif after missing an one from him.

India fielding was pathetic as they missed three catches in the early hour and each time the bowler who was affected the most was Sreesanth and even Indian Captain who is always a good slip fielder droped a catch to his utter dismay.

Kamran who came at no:3 provided some quick fire with a well made 34.Yousuf was once again guilty of not concentrating hard enough as he once again got out to a very poor shot.Inzamam who looked in very good nick was brilliantly caught by Dhoni of Sachin Tendulakar’s bowling.

Younis Khan also did not last long and it was left to Malik and Razzaq to repair the damage done byIndians to Pakistani total as they resurrected Pakistan with a 100 run partnership between them.Finally Malik got to his hundred on this match after missing out on two occasions.

Razzaq provided the much needed impetus to Pakistan innings in the end as more than 99 runs came of the last 10 overs with Razzaq finishing on 64 notout just from 46 balls which included four huge sixes.

As Pakistan reached a good total of 286 in 50 overs.

India's chase in second ODI

Indians began their chase well as Sachin and Sehwag combined well together to forge a 100 run partnership in quicktime.They scored about 105 runs in15 overs as this partnetship laid a solid foundation for India’s win.Sachin scored a well made 42 runs which was dotted with 7 boundaries.
Sehwag signaled his return to form with a good 67runs which included a huge six.

Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh who came in next had no problems as required run rate was well below 4 runs per over due to the good first wicket partnership between Sachin and Sehwag for the first wicket.

Dravid completed a well made half century and when he was out to Shoiab Malik ,India had no problems as they were well within the reach of Pakistan’s total of 265.

In the end Yuvraj Singh provided some fireworks as he hit 3 huge sixes of Malik in final overs to finish with unbeaten 82 from just 89 balls.

Pakistan's batting in second odi

Inzamam won the toss and surprisingly elected to bat on a seaming wicket which was a very bold decision.

India made two changes in the team as Suresh Raina was included in the final eleven and Ramesh Powar coming in as supersub in the place of Murali Karthick who was very much ineffective against Pakistan in the first one dayer.

Indian drew the blood in the very first over itself as Salman Butt edged an away going delivery from Irfan Pathan straight into the hands of Dhoni in the second ball of the day itself.

Shoiab Malik who was the man in form for came in next as he and Kamran Akmal put on good 46 run partnership for the second wicket.Akmal was once again guilty of throwing his wicket away as he played on to stumps to give Irfan Pathan his second wicket of the day.

Mohammed Yousuf who came in as next did not last too long as he was run out due to a smart piece of fielding from Sachin Tendulkar at square leg.

Inzamam soon followed Yousuf as he was done in by a beautiful delivery from Zaheer Khan in his very first over as Inzamam spooned a simple catch to Sreesanth at mid on.

Younis Khan who was the vice captain of the Pakistan team joined Shoiab Malik and gathered runs at very good pace as both of them were in good form in the recently concluded test series.

Indian ground fielding was superb as they ran out four Paksitani batsman in the entire 50 overs.

Shoaib Malik once again fell short of his century as he was run out by sreesanth who brought of a good atheletic throw to run out him.Afridi who came at the fall of Malik disappointed as he was very well deceived by Pathan.Razzaq who came in as next also did not last long as entire Pakistani innings folded of 265 runs in49.2 overs.

Murali Karthick's omission

Murali Karthick should be axed form Indian team as he had not completely utilized chances given to him, as again and again he took over advantage from his captains persistence with him in one day cricket.He seemed to have some sort of support from Rahul Dravid himself as he continued to support bowler like Karthick who his not a very good bowler and only bowled well in patches .

He is the main person responsible for India losing this match as he did not bowl well during his initial overs as he allowed Malik to come down the track to clobber him for four sixes ,which surely turned the match away from India and in the final ten overs of Pakistan’s innings as he bowled too many wides and no balls to make the target easy for Pakistani batsman.

I hope that Rahul Dravid would replace a bowler like Karthick who is not a good bowler with a bowler like off-spinner Ramesh Powar who got record no of wickets in this Ranji season and Who could also come handy with his batting qualities compared to that of Karthick’s.

Another guy who his not worth for a place in India’ twelve his Sreesanth .though he bowls at a good pace ,he is not worth for a place ,as he his not bowling a good line and length which his key to a bowlers performance .Amd I am particulary unimpressive of him as his most of his bowlers are directed towards leg stump which are easy pickings for a new batsman and which allow them slightly to take pressure of them and Rahul Dravid was found wanting for his captaincy as it was his duty to guide bowlers like Sreesanth who was relatively inexperienced to bowl a good line and length.

Rahul Dravid should be more conscious of his captaincy as it was his duty to persuade or tell the bowlers to bowl a good line or length instead of leaving the bowler to go with his own plans.

Pakistan's run chase

Pakistan’ innings began on bright note as Kamran Akmal and Salaman Butt added 52 runs for the first wicket in just 8 overs.Kamran Akmal was the first to go as he was caught by Gautam Gambhir of Sreesanth.

Shoaib Malik who was sent in as next continued the good work as he and Salman was hardly troubled by Indian bowling attack and they were also aided by some poor captaincy from Rahul Dravid who did not bring Agarkar as a new ball bowler and some bad bowling from Sreesanth .

Shoaib Malik and Salman played beautifully as they added more than 150 runs for the second wicket ,with Shoaib Malik was particularly severe on Murali Karthick as he was clobbered for four sixes by Shoiab Malik who used the long handle very effectively.

At the Salman Butt gathered his runs at a good pace and scored his third century in oneday cricket and it was also his third century against India as he had scored his all centuries against India only.

At one stage it seemed that Salman Butt and Shoaib Malik would take Pakistan comfortably past the India’s total of 328,But disaster struck when Salman Butt gave a simple catch to Rahul Dravid at cover after completing his century.

After the loss of Salman Butt ,to acclerate run rate Afridi was sent in as next as he along with Shoaib Malik who took charge successfully reduced the target of 150 runs from the last 20 overs to 99 runs from 15 overs ,which was especially helped by
some bad bowling from Karthik as Shoiab Malik hit him for 2 successive sixex in an over.

Shoaib Malik soon got as out as he was caught by Rahul Dravid at midwicket of
Zaheer Khan and Afridi too followed as he was run out by Kaif by a direct throw from cover to the non-strikers end which caught Afridi well short of the crease.

Yousuf and Inzamam who came in as next batted beautifully but Yousuf was the next one to go as he was caught by Zaheer Khan of Agit Agarkar.Inzamam was strangely given out as he deliberately obstructed the field and throw from Suresh Raina which caught him well short of the crease.

Razzaq was the next one to go as he was neatly pouched by Dhoni of Agarkar who again bowled a good spell at the end.

Younis and Rana batted well as further loss of wickets would have put Pakistan’s run chase in disaray.They were also helped by Murali Karthick who bowled wides and no balls in the last few overs as Younis and Rana never took any risk and when the match was seemingly poised for an exciting finish ,Pakistan’s batsman who has no sporting attitude returned to Pavilion,knowing well that if they were going to stop know they were going to win the match.

Match summary:
Pakistan won the toss and asked India to bat first on a good batting wicket.Pakistan surprisingly dropped Shoaib Akthar who had been injured and India included Murali Karthick in the place of Harbhajan Singh who had abruised finger.

India opened with the new opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan as against the normal opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag.

Sehwag was the first to go as he was caught by wicket keeper Akmal of the bowling of Mohammed Asif Who bowled a beautiful delivery to get rid of Sehwag.

Sachin Tendulkar came in next as he and Irfan Pathan frustrated the Pakistani’s for over an hour.Pathan was especially good as he brought some sweet cover drives and played some beautiful shots on offside and onside with Sachin Tendulkar giving him good support. Irfan’s run feast continued as he scored 65 runs in quick time and forged a 90 run partner ship with Sachin.

He was unlucky to get out as he responded very late to short delivery which he top edged to Imran Farhat at short fine leg.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni who came next continued Dhoni’s good work as he and Sachin played some good shots on both sides of the wicket.Sachin who was very hesistant in early part of his innings who had at one time scored just 20 runs from 40 balls shrugged of his initial hesitancy and began to play his shots
As he hit a huge six over long on of Arshad’s Khan bowling .

Mahendra Singh Dhoni continued from where he left as he hit 4 fours in an Razzaq’s over.He was particulary severe on Rana and Razzaq as he plundred more runs of them.He also did not give due respect to Arshad Khan who replaced Umar Gul as Supersub as he hit consecutive fours of him.

While Dhoni was tormenting Pakistani bowlers, Sachin at the other end played a supporting role to Dhoni and collected his runs beautifully by neatly placed one’s and two’s and with some carefully
placed shots .Dhoni who set for a big score was caught superbly by Shoaib Malik at the point of Asif’s bowling which brought an end to a good cameo knock.

Indian captain to keep the momentum going at the centre dropped himself down the order and sent Yuvraj Singh ahead of him. Yuvraj did not disappointed India’s captain as he scored a quick fie 39 runs from just 25 balls .Dravid was the next man to come in as Sachin reached his century with a single of
Arshad Khan .And it was welcome back moment for Sachin as it was his 39th century in one day cricket and when 96 he became the first player to go past 14000 run mark in the history of one day cricket.

At 45th over with score reading at 303/4 and with Sachin still there and having completed his century,I had expected Indians to go past the 350 mark.But the things changed suddenly as Sachin got a very rough decision after reaching his hundred and Dravid who was looking very good was consumed by a good Yorker bowled by Rana as only less than 26 runs came of the last five overs thanks to some good bowling by Rana,Arshad and Asif as Indians lost their wat due to madness after being 303/4 at one stage.Due to this sudden collapse India was all out for 328 as they failed to bat the full quota of 50 overs.

Indian Team strategy

If Dravid wins the toss tomorrow he will be looking forward to bat second in the pitch because of India’s superior batting lineup and which have much needed flexibility in it when compared to Pakistan.


And Indians will be looking forward to restrict Players like Akmal, Afridi, ShoiabMalik,Inzamam as they could literally run away with the match.To resrict Pakistan Indian bowlers should bowl a consistent line and length and any way wardness in Length could be sent to boundary by Pakistan’s batsmen.


India also should be also a wary of Pakistan’s middle order which has world quality batsman in the form of Inzamam and Mohammed Yousuf.

As far as Pakistan’s bowling his concerned,Though Akthar has much speed his line and length his not consistent and this will enable Indian batsman to negotiate Akthar very well. And they should also remember that Akthar have a very good slower ball which is an effective delivery in one day cricket.



In addition to this they also have Asif who is a new entrant and Experienced Rana-Naved-ul-Hasan may lend stability to Pakistan bowling line up.



In all probability Indians will be bowling first in this one day match unless asked to bat first by Pakistan.In case of bowling first,they would be looking to restrict Pakistan to score of around a 250 and would be hoping to win this match because of their superior ability and depth in batting.

Team composition:

India will likely to go with 3 pace bowlers and one spin bowler as the pitches in Pakistan are likely to assist pace bowlers. Among bowlers Harbhajan,Agarkar,Pathan pick themselves up and the only place left is a toss up between R.P.Singh and Zaheer Khan, and Zaheer Khan may get the nod ahead of R.P.Singh because of his huge amount of experience in one day cricket.


Among Batsman Sachin, Sehwag, Dravid, Yuvraj, Dhoni, and Mohammed Kaif pickthemselvesautomatically. And Rahul may be keen to give a Gambhir chance in one day game to compensate him for not getting a place in test Eleven. But SureshRaina’sSuperior fielding ability in addition to his recent batting form in Ranji Trophy matches may get him the nod ahead of Gambhir for the super sub slot.

The probable 12 may be:
Sachin Tendulkar
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
Yuvraj Singh
Mohammed Kaif
MS Dhoni
Irfan Pathan
Agit Agarkar
Harbhajan Singh
Zaheer Khan

Supersubs:
Suresh Raina (If India batted second)
R.P.Singh/ M.Karthick (If India batted First)

India’s bowling department is led by sultan of swing Irfan Pathan who extract some amount of purchase from the pitch ,because of early morning freshness.In addition to Pathan,India also got Agarkar who is very good one day bowler who could add up also as a useful oneday player because of his batting.


Though R.P.Singh did not have much variety as Irfan and Agarkar, his aim to pick good line and length may earn him rich dividends even though he could take advantage of seaming conditions. Sreesanth is not as fast as Akthar or Asif ,But he would be certainly fast among the Indian pace bowlers.


Zaheer Khan who was out of the team for one dayers against Sri Lanka and South Africa came back to the squad because of his superlative performance in Ranji Trophy matches in India and may be a force to reckon with.


Spin department will be led by Harbhajan Singh who will be looking for revenge against Pakistan as he went wicket less in two test matches and his ability to contain batsman may work very well in favour of India.


He is ably supported by Murali Karthick who is a good left arm spinner who does not have two much varieties as Bishan Singh Bedi or Raju.

India’s :
Indian would definitely try to bury the ghosts of the Karachi test match,by winning the first oneday international to be played at Peshwar.India would definitely seek revenge for it’s huge loss at Karachi.


India would be once again looking for flexibility in their batting order as they hope to take advantage of fielding restrictions inside the 3 power plays and one may see even Sachin,Sehwag,Dhoni,Pathan and Agarkar going up or lower down the order.

With return of Suresh Raina and Mohammed Kaif who are in good form ,Indians would be looking to win this first oneday to dent a huge blow to Pakistan in the beginning of series itself.

Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh once again provide solidity to middle order and you may see even Rahul Dravid going down further in the batting lineup.

And this flexibility may once again be crucial advantage in favour of India as this makes India as favorites in this oneday series when compared to Pakistan’s batting lineup which is not as flexible as |Indian batting lineup.

To their added advantage Indians also have palyers like Dravid.Kaif,Tendulkar and Raina who could very well adapt to the match situations and play accordingly.Indians would be also bolstered by the return of Kaif and Raina who are excellent fielders in addition to Yuraj Singh who is always brilliant at point.

India's second innings

As expected,On Fourth day Pakistan batsman made some quick runs to declare as soon as possible and Younis Khan declared Pakistan’s second innings at 599 runs with a lead of more than 607 runs.


India needed a miracle from one of their batsman to save this test match as with more than 2 days remaining and 168 overs to be bowled.

Indians started of badly by losing their Skipper Rahul Dravid in the very first over of the innings as he was done in by a Akthar’s outswinger which kissed Rahul Dravid’s bat on it’s way to Wicket Keeper Kamran Akmal.

Sehwag also returned to pavilion with his middle stump knocked of the ground by Mohammed Asif who bowled beautifully .Laxman was also done in by a delivery
from Mohammed Asif which pitched outside the off stump to hit middle stump.

Sachin looked for a big innings in his short essay as he essayed some neat cover drives of the off side and for a moment India looked back on the track,but only soon to be dismissed by Asif who completely beat Tendulkar by his sheer pace.

Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly was once again saved India from blushes as Yuvraj was major partner in their Partnership contributing more than 50 runs and Ganguly providing him good support at the other end .And Indian scorecard read 149/4 at tea.


Ganguly once again failed in the second innings as he was out LBW to Razzaq in firsr over after tea.Dhoni who came after Ganguly also did not last long as he contributed only 18 runs with Yuvraj Singh striking ball to all the parts of the ground.

Irfan Pathan,Anil Kumble and Zaheer failed to provide much resistance as Yuvraj made his Second century against Pakistan and he was last man out for 122 which included two huge sixes and seventeen boundaries.

Third day:
Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan made amends for their dismal show in first innings as they once again plundered Indian attack to all parts of the ground and also it this the third time in this series they haven been involved in a century partnership.As they once again proved to be thorn in India’s flesh.


Both Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf batted with strong resolve and commitment totake Pakistan’s total well beyond the score of 300 as they batted India out of the match.


Once again in this series Younis and Yousuf fell to Anil Kumble as he was rewarded
for his preservance and accurate line and length even on a wicket that does dole out anything to spin bowlers.


Younis Khan’s and Mohammed Yousuf’s wickets put Pakistan on a back track as they were 303/4 at one stage and any further loss of wickets would had India gaining an upper hand in this match was thwarted by Afridi who shattered any hopes of an Indian come back in this test match by his flamboyant batting with good support provided by Faisal Iqbal at the other end.



After Afridi’s departure Razzaq and Faisal batted extraordinarly to keep Indians out of the match and Faisal Iqbal trumpted his return to test cricket after 3 long years by scoring his madien century in last over of the day bowled by Anil Kumble.At the end of fourth day of play Pakistan were comfortably placed with a lead of 512 runs and with more than two days to go.

Third day:
Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan made amends for their dismal show in first innings as they once again plundered Indian attack to all parts of the ground and also it this the third time in this series they haven been involved in a century partnership.As they once again proved to be thorn in India’s flesh.


Both Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf batted with strong resolve and commitment totake Pakistan’s total well beyond the score of 300 as they batted India out of the match.


Once again in this series Younis and Yousuf fell to Anil Kumble as he was rewarded
for his preservance and accurate line and length even on a wicket that does dole out anything to spin bowlers.


Younis Khan’s and Mohammed Yousuf’s wickets put Pakistan on a back track as they were 303/4 at one stage and any further loss of wickets would had India gaining
an upper hand in this match was thwarted by Afridi who shattered any hopes of an Indian come back in this test match by his flamboyant batting with good support
provided by Faisal Iqbal at the other end.



After Afridi’s departure Razzaq and Faisal batted extraordinarly to keep Indians out of the match and Faisal Iqbal trumpted his return to test cricket after 3 long years by scoring his madien century in last over of the day bowled by Anil Kumble.At the end of fourth day of play Pakistan were comfortably placed with a lead of 512 runs and with more than two days to go.

Pakistan's second innigs

Pakistan’s second innings began on a good note as he both openers forged a 100 run partnership between them for the first wicket and in the process both of them hit half centuries and made Indian bowlers to toil hard for first wicket.

And it was Sourav Ganguly who was the pick of Indian bowlers of the day and he was one who got the first wicket for India by trapping Salman Butt in front of the wicket .And among Indian bowlers Saurav Ganguly was the most economical bowler as he conceded only 3.45 runs per over.

Imran Farhat who was in good nick in this innings soon followed Salman Butt as he mistimed a pull of Irfan Pathan to be only caught by Sachin Tendulkar at mid-on
thus bringing curtains down on a wonderful knock.

Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf combined well to take Pakistan well past the 150 run mark with more than 150 runs in lead and 3 days remaining.

India's reply on second day:

On any day the first one hour is so important that if a team afford to lose some wickets on the first hour they can never able to come back and in this aspect Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh done well to keep the Pakistan's at bay as they scored at a rate of more than 5 runs per over in the first hour itself as they mixed caution with aggression .

Just when they were looking good Sourav Ganguly fell to a poor shot to Razzaq at fine leg ,as top edged a ball from Razzaq which was pitched well outside the off stump thereby exposing his vulnerability to short pitch deliveries once again.

And it brought an end to 81 run Partnership between Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh for the fifth Wicket with Ganguly alone contributing with a well made 34 runs which was studded with more boundaries.


Yuvraj Singh soon followed Ganguly for a well made 45 as he was trapped in front of the wicket by Mohammed Asif. Dhoni also did not stay too long as he was caught at second slip When going for an expensive cover drive of Razzaq


Irfan and Anil Kumble joined in the middle as India had lost 3 quick wickets just in space of 20 runs and they had a difficult job at their hand as India needed more than 75 runs with only three wickets in hand.


Anil Kumble also did not last long as he was trapped LBW by Akthar who bowled a good spell in the post lunch session. With score reading at 181/8 and with only tail to come, It seemed certain that India would concede a first innings lead to Pakistan.

But Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan forged a 66 run partnership to turn tables on Pakistan as they scored some quick runs and when it seemed certain that India would go past the Pakistan’s first innings total of 245 runs ,Pakistan’s skipper Younis Khan brought back Afridi who got Irfan Pathan out in very first over he bowled.

It was wrong on the part of Irfan Pathan to go over the top in the Afridi’s first over as his wicket was vital and he with Zaheer Khan may haven a good first innings lead of 50 to 60 runs .Zaheer Khan soon followed Pathan as the innings folded at 238 runs.

India's reply

India’s reply:
India squandered their advantage of possibility of gaining a big first innings as they lost their dependable captain Rahul Dravid in the very second over
of their innings over .And they also lost Virender Sehwag in quick sucession as he once again fell to a bad delivery which was pitched well outside the off stump.

India at this stage were 9/2 and were in a spot of bother,when Sachin Tendulkar joined VVS Laxman .It was Sachin’s second match at this ground the previous one being his debut test match against the Pakistan in 1989-90.

Sachin and Laxman adopted a cautious approach in the first few overs as it was important not to lose any more wickets to give further advantage to Pakistan. Sachin and Laxman consolidated well to get India past 50 runs in quick time as Sachin essayed some beautiful drives on both sides of the wicket.

Just when both Laxman and Sachin were looking good in their shortly,Mohammed Asif produced an unplayable delivery which pitched outside the off stump,but went on to the off stump ,as Laxman watched helplessly.


Sachin soon followed Laxman due to lapse in concentration as he was bowled by Abdur Razzaq .The ball which was directed towards leg stump deflected of Sachin’s pad to hit middle past, as India lost it’s fourth wicket at the score of 56,with more than 190 runs in arrear,with only six wickets in hand.


Then came Yuvraj Singh and Ganguly who was trying to cement his place in the team with score reading at 56/4.They survived some anxious moments as they were treated with some good bowling by Shoaib Akthar and Co.

And they batted very well in that crucial short spell to take India to 78 without loss of further wickets.

Akmal Prop ups Pakistan:

Akmal scored his fourth century as he and Razzaq forged a century partnership to rescue Pakistan from 39/6 after they were done in by some good bowling by Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan as at one stage Pakistan were reeling at 16/4.As Irfan’s hatrick saw them reeling at 16/4.


It was Irfan Pathan’s day who draw flak for his poor performance at firsr two matches bowled well to claim his first hatrick of his career as he took the wickets of
Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Mohammed Yousuf in his first over itself.


Salman Butt was the first to go as he was caught at first slip by Rahul Dravid in the third ball of the day as he unnecessarily dragged his bat on to an outswinger.


Then came Younis Khan who had scored four consecutive centuries against India in last four matches as he was trapped in front of the wicket by an in swinger ,which was a perfect delivery to bowl to an new batsman.

Mohammed Yousuf followed Younis Khan very next ball as he was bowled by Pathan to get his first hatrick of the career.


Faisal Iqbal came next as instead of Pakistan’s captain Inzamam dropped out of the test match because of a acute back pain. And he did not too last long as he was trapped by Zaheer who also got some thing from the pitch.

Afridi announced his intentions upon his arrival by striking a glorious cover drive of Zaheer Khan he also did not last long as he was bowled next ball by Zaheer kahn as he repeated the same shot again.

Imran Farhat who came back into the side in the pace of Shoiab Malik did n ’t do justice for his inclusion as he was caught at second slip when going for an extensive cover drive of R.P.Singh with Pakistan in deep trouble at 39/6 as Razzaq and Akmal came together and forged a century partnership to rescue Pakistan again as they have done before same opposition at Mohali in 2004-2005 when they were only 65 runs ahead with only four wickets in hand.


Kamran Akmal was the star of the day as he pulled and cut ferociously to gather runs to rescue Pakistan from deep trouble. Razzaq was the next to go as he was trapped by R.P.Singh with score reading at 159.

India got a chance to dismiss Pakistan well below 200 when India’s Wicketkeeper Dhoni missed a easiest of stumping chances with Akmal on 78 as he was completely foxed by Anil Kumble.

Akthar and Akmal combined well to take Pakistan well above the Psychological
mark of 200 runs as Akthar once again scored some important runs for his team which included two huge sixes over square leg and midwicket.At one stage Pakistan
Were cruising nicely ,but Indian bowlers bowled well in the end to restrict Pakistan to a modest score of 250.

India’s captain Rahul Dravid won a good toss and rightly decided to bowl first on the pitch which had a tinge of grass in it. His decision was rightly justified by Irfan Pathan who bowled with venom as he claimed the hatrick in his very first over.

Irfan Pathan was greatly helped by the conditions at National stadium at Karachi,
Where the curator had left a huge amount of grass to assist bowling after the Pakistan Cricket Board was flayed for preparing unresponsive pitches at Lahore and Faisalabad .

Irfan Pathan who had not bowled very well in the last two matches silenced his critics by claiming wickets of Salman Butt,Younis Khan,Yousuf of three successive deliveries to put Pakistan on backfoot very early.

Irfan Pathan on his fourth delivery claimed the wicket of Salman Butt,as the left hander needlessly edged a away going delivery to Rahul Dravid at slip as Pakistan loosed it’s first wicket without any runs on the board.Then came Younis Khan who had previously scored four consecutive centuries in last four tests against India .

Younis Khan got out to Irfan next ball as he got a sharp in swinger which trapped him in front of the wicket. Yousuf followed Younis very next ball as he was bowled by an in swinger as Irfan claimed his first hatrick in his career.