India decide to rest frontline bowlers for last game

JAIPUR: Having already clinched the one-day series against Pakistan, India have decided to rest their frontline bowlers as they go into the fifth and final cricket one-dayer here on Sunday with a combination heavily loaded with batsmen.
    
The unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series has given the home team the luxury to try out some of their bench players and the team management has opted to give the main bowlers a break.
    
The Indians have chosen to leave out pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and pacer R P Singh from the match which has been reduced to an academic interest following the team's first home series triumph in 24 years.
    
"We have decided to rest Zaheer, Harbhajan and R P Singh for the match. We will decide the playing eleven after having a look at the pitch tomorrow", cricket manager Lalchand Rajput said.
    
Temperamental paceman S Sreesanth, who has not played a single match in the series, and in-form left arm spinner Murali Kartik are almost certain to play the floodlit encounter which promises to be another high-scoring affair.
    
The decision to rest the key bowler means that senior batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who were expected to be rested, may figure in the playing line-up.
    
Among the 12 shortlisted for the match, batsman Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Praveen Kumar have not played a single game so far and it is quite possible that both the young players are drafted in the eleven.
    
A victory in the final day-night encounter will be the perfect boost for the hosts when they go into the three-match Test series beginning in Delhi from November 22.
    
While some insist that the Shoaib Malik-led squad could well be the weakest Pakistani side ever to cross the border, India's performance has proved that Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his teammates have maintained a vice-like grip over the series, with the defeat in Mohali being the lone blemish.
    
Of the four matches played so far, a domineering India ambled to win in Guwahati with three overs to spare, romped home in Kanpur and cantered to victory with 3.3 overs to go in Gwalior.
    
In contrast, Pakistan huffed and puffed their way to a thrilling win, with one ball to spare, in the second ODI at Mohali and they did not get another occasion to celebrate thereafter.
    
Under Malik, Pakistan have looked a disjointed lot, severely plagued by bankruptcy of ideas and slipshod application out in the field.
    
Though Salman Butt got his form back in the series, Pakistan relied just too much on Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf and whenever the Y-Y combo came a cropper, so did the visitors.
     
And in absence of Mohammad Asif and a quality spinner in the squad, Pakistan attack lacked both the firepower and the sting as India merrily feasted on them.
    
In his pomp, the mere sight of Shoaib Akhtar starting his spectacular run up was enough to send shivers down the spine of his opponents.
    
But the myth was shattered in the pre-series warm-up match itself, when Delhi batsman Shikhar Dhawan pulled the speedster for a six. So far, Shoaib has been anything but ominous, claiming seven wickets in four matches and he does not have the Indian batsmen exactly shaking in their boots.
    
Apart from the batting and bowling woes, Pakistan's fielding has been poor. Kamran Akmal dropping a catch does not raise eyebrows anymore, it's his grabbing which does and the visitors, as a whole, looked sloth in the outfield.
    
In contrast, India have been, by and large, consistent. Everyone in the batting order has put up their hands to be counted, though Sachin Tendulkar admittedly got into this wrong habit of getting out in the 90s.
    
Even more reassuring has been the chemistry between Dhoni and his deputy Yuvraj Singh, who has clearly emerged as India's middle order mainstay. They have complemented each other, run hard when boundaries dried up, gone ballistic when the going gets tough and done everything to see the side through on more than one occasion.
    
In the middle, Dhoni and Yuvraj personified confidence and neither soaring run rate nor tumbling of wickets at the other end could sway their belief in themselves.
    
Equally heartening has been the performance of the Indian bowlers.
    
Zaheer Khan has led the attack with aplomb, while R P Singh did justice to his growing stature. Irfan Pathan has lost an yard or two but his maturity stood him in good stead and castling Shahid Afridi in Kanpur with the new ball would do a world of good to his morale.
    
Among the spinners, Harbhajan Singh has been simply outstanding. He has mastered the art of etiolating the run rate before dealing the blow, while left-arm spinner Murali Kartik has proved his mettle even in the limited opportunity he got.
    
Though the Pakistani side at their disposal is a depleted and demoralised one, India should not show any semblance of complacence and should go for the kill, just to rock the visitors' confidence, which could pave way for a Test series triumph as well.
    
Teams (from):
    
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Murali Kartik, S Sreesanth and Praveen Kumar.
    
Pakistan: Shoaib Malik (capt), Younis Khan, Abdur Rehman, Fawad Alam, Iftikhar Anjum, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Salman Butt, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul and Yasir Hameed.