March 1, 2003
Form guide: India
The Pakistan team will be under huge pressure because they haven’t been performing so well in the World Cup. India has qualified for the Super Sixes and they enjoy a slight edge. But the Pakistanis could come back anytime. Aamir Sohail looks at India's chances against Pakistan.
In the 1996 match, we got a good start but couldn’t capitalize – the middle order caved in. The way we opened, there was a bit of reverse psychology – we decided to take the initiative in our hands and not let the bowler have time to think.
We also planned to trigger them, say something to offend them, make gestures to upset their rhythm. Then I was dismissed, and criticized for a rash shot – but the fact is I was playing according to our game plan.
Players from the sub-continent are so accustomed to playing on flat tracks that we only believe in hitting straight through the line of the ball without moving our feet. If I were advising the Pak bowlers, I would tell them to bowl short deliveries wide outside the off stump, and make the batsmen reach for the ball. We should not bowl to them where they can stand tall and hit through the gaps. I would reckon pitching the ball up and away from the off-stump is the ideal delivery to bowl.
When it comes to facing the Indian bowlers, the best advice I can give is to bat all 50 overs. Stay at the crease and look for the bad deliveries, they will surely come; look for the singles and rotate the strike. 20-30 singles will give the batsmen a lot of confidence.
If you look at the other teams that struggled initially, they still managed to score heavily at the end if they had wickets in hand.
Rashid Latif, Abdul Razzaq and Wasim Akram comprise the lower order and each one of them is capable of scoring at 10 runs an over at the death. My advice would be to get to the 35th over with wickets in hand, Pakistan will then do well.
