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Wright says Pak batting holds edge
The Indian camp is painfully aware that to make the final, they will have to beat arch-rival Pakistan, writes Jaideep Ghosh.
Ask the organisers of the Asia Cup, and they could not be happier. India playing Pakistan on a Sunday. On top of that, it is a virtual semi-final, since the losers will definitely be packing up and heading home, while the winners take their place in the final against Sri Lanka on August 1. The Indian camp is painfully aware that to make the final, they will have to beat Pakistan. Coach John Wright knows it will be a tough fight.
"Oh yeah," he said when asked if Pakistan will be up to the challenge. "It will be a tough game. All our encounters with them have been reasonably close. They probably have more batting form going into the clash." That in itself, however, is a bit of a strange statement, considering that the Pakistani batting was taken to the cleaners by Sri Lanka in their last game.
"Sri Lanka are in the box seat so to speak," he said about the virtual semi-final situation. "The points system does penalise if you lose with a bonus point as well. There is a change from the way things went during the Pakistan tour, and here. In Pakistan, 300-plus scores were chased pretty easily, while here, the chasing teams have the going tough. Wickets (in Pakistan) were good batting tracks, with the exception of Peshawar. So 300-plus scores could be achieved and chased.
"It will be interesting to see what kind of wicket we will have here. I hope it is a good one-day wicket. There is so much flavour when India and Pakistan play and if they provide a batting wicket it will be a feast."
Rival coach Bob Woolmer, just beginning his stint, came up for discussion. "He is an experienced international coach. He is a great student of the game. I've known him from the time I was playing second XI for Kent and he first team. I have a lot of respect for him. He hasn't been with Pakistan for long. But I'm sure he will be having a look."
And Shoaib Akhtar is not as much of a threat as Pakistan would like to think. "We've played a lot against him," Wright said. "We've got a hard look at them. Both teams are probably a bit rusty.. we are going into a match, which is extremely important for both of us."
Asked if India may consider a change in the bowling attack since the ball darts around at the Premadasa track, Wright said. "I wouldn't anticipate a change. We haven't selected the team yet."
Wright added that there are no more problems in the Indian squad. With Zaheer Khan being declared fit on Thursday, "there is competition. (Ashish) Nehra bowled really well the other day.
“He has a good record against Pakistan. Harbhajan has bowled really well... he looks good. But we've got to do something about the extras. It is not sensible to give them an extra batsman."
There is no anxiety in batting. "Getting through the first 15 overs with wickets in hand is going to be important in this game. I hope they give us a good wicket. Allow batters of both teams to display their exciting brand of batsmanship."
