Abu Dhabi preview
PTI News
*Zayed Stadium will be hosting its first ever ODI
*Pakistan enjoys an enviable record of winning 18 of 24 matches at Sharjah
*Indian youth brigade, however, is not burdened by those defeats
_________________________________________________
Abu Dhabi: Fresh from a resounding victory over England, an upbeat India will begin a two-match one-day series against archrival Pakistan here on Tuesday with the poor form of seniors Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaif continuing to be a cause of concern.
The struggling duo was rested for the last match in Indore and the team management, desperate to get them out of the prolonged slump, will be hoping that the desert venue will help the duo turn the corner.
With Karnataka opener Robin Uthappa making a memorable debut, pressure will be on Sehwag to deliver the goods. Another failure could force the team management to eventually show the door to the Delhi swashbuckler.
Confident stride
The Indians have hardly had any time to savour their 5-1 triumph over England, flying in here the very morning after the seventh and final match on Saturday. But the confident stride of the players showed they were ready to renew a famous rivalry, albeit at a new venue in the UAE — the Zayed Stadium, which would be hosting its first ever ODI.
Hopefully, the new ground and new city will help the Indian team bury the ghosts of Sharjah which had been unkind to it — be it Javed Miandad's six off the last ball or the controversial leg before decisions or the partisan crowds.
However, it should not be a problem for this young Indian team as not many in the present line-up carry the burden of those defeats against Pakistan which enjoys an enviable record of winning 18 of 24 matches.
With the kind of form that Rahul Dravid's men have shown in the shorter version of the game of late, which includes a 4-1 drubbing of Pakistan in Pakistan, it should not be a surprise if the Indians run away with the glittering DLF Cup.
No charity
Although the cause is for charity, the teams are expected to show the least of it to one another with Dravid making it clear that the team did not want to break its winning habit and rival skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq desperate to make amends for the reversal at home early this year.
The proceeds from the first game would go towards relief of earthquake victims in India and Pakistan, while profits from the second match would be shared by the two cricket boards.
India, playing its first match in six years in the Emirates which it had shunned after the match-fixing scandal rocked the cricketing world in 2000, is however, not without its share of problems which mainly concerns the poor form of Sehwag and Kaif.
High on confidence
Pakistan also comes into this short series, both matches of which would be day/night affairs, riding high on confidence following its clean sweep of Sri Lanka. In fact, the one-day series defeat to India has been the only real blip in what has otherwise been a splendid season for Bob Woolmer's team.
Shoaib Akhtar would be missed but Pakistan's latest revelation — swing bowler Mohammad Asif — has been causing problems for the batsmen with his lethal bowling.
Woolmer admitted India was on a roll at the moment but reposed faith in his side to see off the challenge. "Obviously India is not an easy team to beat. It is playing well at the moment but we have the players to match it in every department of the game," he said after his team's practice on Sunday.
The teams (from): India: Rahul Dravid (capt.), Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Venugopala Rao, Munaf Patel, S. Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Rudra Pratap Singh and Robin Uthappa.
Pakistan: Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt.), Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Asif, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Rana Naved-ul Hasan, Faisal Iqbal and Abdul Rehman.
Umpires: Rudi Koertzen and Brian Jerling; TV umpire: Tyron Wijewardena. Match referee: Roshan Mahanama. —
PTI News
*Zayed Stadium will be hosting its first ever ODI
*Pakistan enjoys an enviable record of winning 18 of 24 matches at Sharjah
*Indian youth brigade, however, is not burdened by those defeats
_________________________________________________
Abu Dhabi: Fresh from a resounding victory over England, an upbeat India will begin a two-match one-day series against archrival Pakistan here on Tuesday with the poor form of seniors Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaif continuing to be a cause of concern.
The struggling duo was rested for the last match in Indore and the team management, desperate to get them out of the prolonged slump, will be hoping that the desert venue will help the duo turn the corner.
With Karnataka opener Robin Uthappa making a memorable debut, pressure will be on Sehwag to deliver the goods. Another failure could force the team management to eventually show the door to the Delhi swashbuckler.
Confident stride
The Indians have hardly had any time to savour their 5-1 triumph over England, flying in here the very morning after the seventh and final match on Saturday. But the confident stride of the players showed they were ready to renew a famous rivalry, albeit at a new venue in the UAE — the Zayed Stadium, which would be hosting its first ever ODI.
Hopefully, the new ground and new city will help the Indian team bury the ghosts of Sharjah which had been unkind to it — be it Javed Miandad's six off the last ball or the controversial leg before decisions or the partisan crowds.
However, it should not be a problem for this young Indian team as not many in the present line-up carry the burden of those defeats against Pakistan which enjoys an enviable record of winning 18 of 24 matches.
With the kind of form that Rahul Dravid's men have shown in the shorter version of the game of late, which includes a 4-1 drubbing of Pakistan in Pakistan, it should not be a surprise if the Indians run away with the glittering DLF Cup.
No charity
Although the cause is for charity, the teams are expected to show the least of it to one another with Dravid making it clear that the team did not want to break its winning habit and rival skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq desperate to make amends for the reversal at home early this year.
The proceeds from the first game would go towards relief of earthquake victims in India and Pakistan, while profits from the second match would be shared by the two cricket boards.
India, playing its first match in six years in the Emirates which it had shunned after the match-fixing scandal rocked the cricketing world in 2000, is however, not without its share of problems which mainly concerns the poor form of Sehwag and Kaif.
High on confidence
Pakistan also comes into this short series, both matches of which would be day/night affairs, riding high on confidence following its clean sweep of Sri Lanka. In fact, the one-day series defeat to India has been the only real blip in what has otherwise been a splendid season for Bob Woolmer's team.
Shoaib Akhtar would be missed but Pakistan's latest revelation — swing bowler Mohammad Asif — has been causing problems for the batsmen with his lethal bowling.
Woolmer admitted India was on a roll at the moment but reposed faith in his side to see off the challenge. "Obviously India is not an easy team to beat. It is playing well at the moment but we have the players to match it in every department of the game," he said after his team's practice on Sunday.
The teams (from): India: Rahul Dravid (capt.), Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Venugopala Rao, Munaf Patel, S. Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Rudra Pratap Singh and Robin Uthappa.
Pakistan: Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt.), Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Asif, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Rana Naved-ul Hasan, Faisal Iqbal and Abdul Rehman.
Umpires: Rudi Koertzen and Brian Jerling; TV umpire: Tyron Wijewardena. Match referee: Roshan Mahanama. —