da leao： Captain and coach confident of scripting a comeback
Osman Samiuddin in Multan15-Feb-2006
‘It is difficult to deal with injuries to bowlers but we can’t do anything about it’ – Inzamam© Getty Images
Pakistan’s chances of levelling the series against India at Multan havebeen hit by a number of injury concerns and poor form. Already shorn ofShahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar, Pakistan might be without Umar Gul, whois suffering from a side strain.A final decision on his fitness is likely to be taken after an x-ray thisafternoon. Although the injury is not thought to be related to the stressfractures of the back which kept him out of the game for over a year, BobWoolmer told Cricinfo he is unlikely to be risked. “Afridi played the lastgame and he shouldn’t have because of his rib cartilage injury. Sometimesyou listen to the player and he was desperate to play but in hindsight itwas the wrong decision. We have made that clear now to the players andwon’t take an unnecessary risk with Gul.”Pakistan have called up Rao Iftikhar Anjum, the fast-medium bowler, whohas played 12 ODIs for Pakistan and was part of the squad until the seriesagainst England last year. Mohammad Sami, who was dropped from the Testand ODI squad after the Lahore Test against India but has been recalled inlight of Shoaib’s inury, is also suffering from fever.Inzamam-ul-Haq said the injuries were a concern but little could be doneabout it. “Injuries are very much part of the modern game. Shoaib andAfridi are key players but other players in the squad are very talentedand now have an opportunity to perform. Gul is going to the hospital tohave his strain checked and we have got Rao Iftikhar as back-up. It isdifficult to deal with injuries to bowlers but we can’t do anything aboutit. We have good back-up.”The other concerns will be over the erratic form of Rana Naved-ul-Hasanand Salman Butt. The former has gone for 194 runs in 25 overs and apartfrom the four victims in Peshawar, is wicketless in his last two games.After such a successful ODI series in India last year, Rana’s form has hitPakistan’s bowling particularly hard. “Rana is not in good form but he hasdone so well for us for over a year now. It happens to all playersoccasionally but I think he can bounce back and produce the goods,” saidInzamam.Butt has made two successive second-ball ducks since his century atPeshawar, falling each time to Irfan Pathan. It has forced Pakistan toponder the possibility of bringing in Imran Farhat as a replacement. Thatchange might precipitate the inclusion of Faisal Iqbal in place of Afridi.”If Imran Farhat opens with Kamran Akmal, then Faisal Iqbal might play inthe middle order,” Inzamam hinted. But he added, “The team will only bedecided later this afternoon.”Pakistan’s shuffled batting order at Lahore, where Afridi opened, Akmaldropped to one-down and senior batsmen such as Mohammad Yousuf and YounisKhan came lower, came in for some criticism after they collapsed to 82 forfour. But Inzamam defended the move, citing the form of players such asAfridi and Shoaib Malik over the last year. “Players at the top have beenscoring runs over the last year and the batting order has been successful.In Lahore, we only moved Afridi up and Akmal down one position. We triedto utilize Afridi; had he stayed 15-20 overs we could have had a bigscore.”The series has been marked by the ability of the side batting second tochase down large totals. On a wicket which Inzamam said will help bowlersand batsmen alike and one on which 260-270 will be a good total, winningthe toss might not be a great advantage. “There is only a littledisadvantage for the team batting first. I still think 288 was a verycompetitive total in Lahore – with 5 wickets down and a required rate ofseven an over, we needed just one more wicket. But Dhoni played anextraordinary innings to win it.”Needing to win the final two games to win a series they were expected towin, Pakistan will at least take some solace from their reputation forfightbacks and their performance in India last year, where after losingthe first two games, they won the remaining four to win the seriesemphatically. Although Woolmer admitted it won’t be as easy this timeround – “They are a much better side than last year, they have played goodcricket. Their bowlers are bowling good lengths and they have a finebatting line-up”- Inzamam is confident it can be repeated.”We have almost the same team here that pulled it off in India last time.We’ve also come from behind in Tests over the last year and that will helpthe team in a situation like this. We have to work hard on all aspects ofthe game. It’s simple now – we have to play really well to win theseries.”