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Real test for India is now

Looking back at Pakistan’s 50-day tour of India, one is certainly forced to admit that the hosts came out on top in virtually every department.

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Looking back at Pakistan’s 50-day tour of India, one is certainly forced to admit that the hosts came out on top in virtually every department.

They first won the ODI series and then went on to take the Test series as well. It was for the first time, in 21 and 27 years respectively, that a Pakistan team touring India have lost both the ODI and Test series, and somewhere this dismantling hurts.

This was probably one of the most poorly-prepared teams we have sent on tour in recent times, and the results are an accurate reflection of the schematic and otherwise schism that differentiated the two sides.

Shoaib Malik, and later Younis Khan, led out teams well below the standards we, as former Pakistan players, have set, particularly in a series against India. And while overseeing this critical encounter, one had to reconcile to the idea that overall India were the superior side.

The biggest difference that has to be underlined was India’s batting. This is a truly world-class batting line-up and almost all of the batsmen individually proved that to be so. In every match, incredibly they had someone to stand up and deliver when it mattered, and Sourav Ganguly’s fine display was just the icing on the cake. Contrary to this, Pakistan were poorly served by their bowlers.

In match after match they failed when it was most needed and for some reason — I am not sure why — it was assumed that two bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar and Danish Kaneria, would suffice for this powerful Indian batting line-up.

In the event, Kaneria failed to do much while Shoaib was not fully fit. On the odd occasions when he was fit, he did test the batsmen, but there was no support for him from the other end at all.

Umar Gul never played a match, Mohammad Asif never even arrived after we were told that he would be here from the second Test onwards, while the others did as much as could be expected from them. In match after match, it was left to Pakistan’s batsmen to save the team.

This they did manage to do twice in the ODI series, but when it came to the Tests, there was only one name to really remember, one sole model of resistance. Misbah-ul Haq can hardly be called ‘promising’ at 34 years of age, but he was one batsman the Indian bowlers completely failed to work out.

He truly had a tour to remember and looks set for a long stay in Pakistan colours now. Coming to India and conquering their conditions is never easy, but, to his credit, Misbah did that with great elan and success.

Overall, India certainly outbatted Pakistan. Their bowling had more depth — Pakistan were at times reduced to three fit bowlers, as it happened in Kolkata — and even on the field, India were marginally the better side. They can be proud of this achievement and a fine one it was too for Anil Kumble in his maiden series as skipper.

Having said that, India now leave for Australia, and that will be a very different kettle of fish indeed. The pitches in all three Tests were well below international standard and certainly no advertisement for the game.

In Australia, things will be very different and the batsmen will have to make the adjustments very quickly. In their favour is the fact that this is a very, very strong array of talent, and many in the team have had the additional benefit of having toured Australia before.

The Indian bowling and fielding, however, can do with some amount of improvement. Against the Aussies, any team has to play beyond its potential and the Indian bowling did not really impress me in this series. The fielding is almost as poor as Pakistan’s, and unless the close-in catching improves radically, it is not going to be easy.

Most of all, I will again reemphasize the point about pitches. Preparing such tracks will not stand India in much stead abroad, and will probably harm their cause in the long run. If you travel abroad after playing a long series on such pitches, you may find yourself nowhere and will not be able to do much against teams like Australia.

Certainly India are presently the number three team in the world but if they want to better that — even get to the top — they will have to take a long and hard look at the way they make their wickets.

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