The home team's morale is at the lowest ebb after a recent 4-1 defeat in Canada and the strength is missing in the middle-order. Nevertheless, Pakistan has proved time and again that they are an unpredictable team and can do wondrous things under pressure. And what can be a better example than the victory in the 1992 World Cup when they made a sluggish start and were later skittled out for a paltry 74 against England. But when the real performance was required, they were there and chased a difficult target to beat New Zealand in the semifinal and defended a respectable score in the final against England. The tournament may not be the same but the situations are identical because their supremacy over India in one-day internationals is under severe threat.
Before Sunday's game, Pakistan had beaten India in 34 matches from 58 meetings and could have easily been 36 had the home team not thrown away two games in Canada. At home soil, their record is even more impressive. They have won eight games in 12 meetings with two ending in no-results. Pakistan has been bolstered with the inclusion of speed merchant Waqar Younis but it is the batting which looks brittle though talented batsmen in Hasan Raza and Mohammad Wasim, who may sit out, are still there. Nevertheless, selectors decision to include opener Salim Elahi is a puzzling one as it once again makes the top order weaker than ever before.The selectors would have been wiser in including Aamir Sohail after he was stopped from going to Hong Kong. Sohail's induction would have given more strength to the batting, besides providing new skipper Saeed Anwar a little more option in bowling.
Saeed Anwar will himself be in tremendous pressure as he has succeeded Ramiz Raja who besides other things, failed to inspire the team with his performance. In addition to this, Anwar's performance in Canada was also not according to the standard set by him. But he is a great batsman and cannot be tied out for long. On the contrary, the morale of the Indians is sky-high and they have all reasons to smile. With a second-rated bowling, they restricted a strong Pakistan batting to reach the 200- mark in Canada. But things for the Indian pacemen will be different here. The wickets would be flat and the outfield will be quicker than it was in North America.
However, rival captains Sachin Tendulkar and Saeed Anwar were satisfied with the wicket though not fully. Probably they were unaware that it was a newly-prepared track and Hyderabad was hosting a first international match in six years. It was way back in 1992-93 that a first-class match was played at this centre. ``It looks to be good but I am not sure. I think it might keep a bit low and even take turn in the second innings. I feel that the team batting first will have the advantage. A score around 225 to chase might become difficult in the evening,'' Saeed Anwar said. ``We had a look at the wicket and it confused us. It is a good one, no doubt, but not the one for which we can announce the team 24 hours early. We will again have a look at it in the morning and then will finalise the combination,'' Indian skipper Sachin Tendulkar said.
The Pakistan captain was, however, clearly unhappy with the outfield. ``It has barren patches and the outfield is bumpy. It is in bad shape but we have to live with it.'' Anwar said he was not at all under any pressure after a hammering in Canada. ``My personal feeling is that we should have won four games but ended up winning only one. The reason we lost four matches was that we played casually in the end. We are not going to repeat the mistake in the coming matches. That I promise you,'' Anwar, who will be leading Pakistan in the sixth match on Sunday, said. Sachin Tendulkar said his team was not complacent or over-confident after a convincing win in the Sahara Cup. ``We are not over-excited but confident. We have a very good chance to win and I am sure we will give a professional performance.'' ``We hate to be complacent because in cricket you cannot predict. I don't want to under-estimate them (Pakistan),'' Tendulkar added.
Anwar was more concerned over the form of Mohammad Azharuddin than Saurav Ganguly. ``Ganguly will not have the same track on which he bowled last week. But hats off to Azharuddin. He has played remarkably well since making a comeback.''
Azhar, after his controversial ouster from the Independence Cup, has played 14 matches in which he has scored 593 runs at 74.12 with a century and six half centuries. ``The only way to get a batsman in such tremendous form is to get him before he is set. And we would be trying to do that,'' Anwar added. Anwar advised the spectators to show discipline and appreciate every shot whether played by the home team or the visitors. ``It is our golden jubilee season and I hope they will join us in the celebrations. Indians are our guests and I hope we give them the same reception and hospitality for which we are known .''
Tendulkar, about the spectators, said: ``The excitement will be there and I advise the spectators to control their emotions. All we want is that the crowd come here and enjoy themselves. We are here just to play games and let us all enjoy.''
In the previous five matches, the team batting first has emerged winners. Thus, the toss becomes vital and any of the skippers making the right call would put more than half of the match in his pocket.
The two teams will be selected from:
INDIA - Sachin Tendulkar (captain), Ajay Jadeja (vice-captain), Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Azharuddin, Vinod Kambli, Robin Singh, Saba Karim, Rajesh Chauhan, Abey Kuruvilla, Harvinder Singh, Debahish Mohanty, Nilesh Kulkarni, Hrishinkesh Kanitkar.
PAKISTAN - Saeed Anwar (captain), Moin Khan (vice-captain), Salim Elahi, Inzamamul Haq, Ijaz Ahmad, Hasan Raza, Shahid Afridi, Azhar Mahmood, Saqlain Mushtaq, Waqar Younis, Aqib Javed, Mohammad Husain, Mohammad Wasim, Shahid Nazir.
UMPIRES - Salim Badar and Said Shah.
TV UMPIRE -Riazuddin.
MATCH REFEREE: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).